Sports

DAN HICKLING Special to the Times Leader

PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- Scranton/Wilkes-Barre manager Dave Miley, is away from the Yankees, indefinitely, to mourn the death of his son Cody, who lost his life Monday morning in a one-car accident.

But Miley and his family were firmly in the thoughts and prayers of many at McCoy Stadium, yesterday, including Yankees coach Butch Wynegar, who is serving as interim manager.

Wynegar spoke with Miley by phone yesterday morning and said that he’s holding up as well as one could under such tragic circumstances.

“He’s doing about as good as you can expect,” he said. “He said that things are rough, right now. He sounded okay, but I can’t imagine what he’s going through.”

Wynegar said he got to know Cody Miley, who was 17, last year, when he spent much of the summer with the Yankees, as do many youngsters whose fathers are managers or coaches.

“Everybody who was here last year, knew Cody pretty well,” Wynegar said. He wore me out in the (batting) cage. He loved to hit. He was just a good kid. It’s going to take a while.”

The loss suffered by the Miley family is felt throughout the baseball community, including Pawtucket manager Ron Johnson, a long time friend of Miley’s who expressed his condolences.

“Dave is a close personal friend of mine,” he said, “and it’s devastating. He will get through it. There might some really bizarre things about this industry that we’re in. But whether you’re on this team or the other team, it’s kind of a fraternity. And I think the support group he’ll have will be tremendous. Hopefully that’s what will help him get through it.”

Johnson, who is the father of five, said that the loss of someone so young hits especially close to him.

“It puts things in perspective, a little bit,” he said. “You realize how fragile life is. It broke my heart. I have five kids, and my 16-year-old just got his license two weeks ago. I think anybody who’s a father and a baseball guy, and you’re traveling all the time, those are the sort of phone calls we may never (want to talk about). But when you’re away from your family for about a month, these things will come through your mind. I don’t care you are.”

Wynegar, too, said that the tragedy is difficult to comprehend. But he thinks that Miley and his family will be able to draw from a deep well of support to help them through this most difficult time.

“I lost my Mom and Dad in the last two years,” he said, “and that was rough enough. (But) you can almost prepare yourself for that because you figure they’re going to pass on before you do. But this is just tragic. We don’t know the answer or why. One day we’ll find out, up there. Right now, you just hope that Miles’ and (his wife) Andrea’s faith will get them through it. And that they’ll find solace in that.”