Joshua Morgan Hancock (April 11, 1978 – April 29, 2007) was a professional baseball pitcher, who played Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, Cincinnati Reds, and St. Louis Cardinals. He was killed in an auto accident on April 29, 2007 at the age of 29. Career Born in Cleveland, Mississippi, Hancock graduated from Vestavia Hills High School in Vestavia Hills, Alabama. After high school, he was selected in the fourth round of the 1996 Major League Baseball draft by the Milwaukee Brewers, but did not sign. An Alabama fan, Hancock instead attended college at Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama because the Tigers offered him a better scholarship. Hancock was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the fifth round (155th overall) of the 1998 amateur draft and signed with the Red Sox, making his major-league debut on September 10, 2002. In December 2002 Hancock was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for Jeremy Giambi. On July 30, 2004, he was traded along with Andy Machado to the Cincinnati Reds for Todd Jones and Brad Correll. The next day, Hancock was the winning pitcher for the Reds in a game against the Houston Astros (a suspended game that began the day before while he was still with the Phillies). On the first day of Spring training 2006, Hancock was released by the Reds for being 17 pounds overweight — thus, violating a clause in his contract. He promptly signed with the St. Louis Cardinals and had his best season, pitching 77 innings, compiling a 4.09 earned run average ERA, and appearing in the 2006 postseason with the Cardinals. Hancock performed in a variety of roles for the Cardinals' bullpen, from short term relief appearances to less desirable roles when the game was out of hand. Hancock was on the Cardinals roster for the 2006 World Series but did not pitch. Before coming to the Cardinals, Hancock had a penchant for giving up home runs. He gave up 17 homers over 68 innings pitched in 2005. Hancock improved in 2006, giving up only nine over 77 innings. In 2007, he had pitched 8 games with an 0-1 record and a 3.55 ERA. Death On April 29, 2007, Hancock was killed in a motor vehicle accident when the 2007 Ford Explorer he was driving while intoxicated struck the rear of a flat bed tow truck at 12:35 a.m. Central