The Newark Sugar Bears were dealt a devastating blow Monday when starter Darryl Kile was found dead in his hotel room, apparently of hardened arteries. The 33-year-old righty was 9-6 with a 5.07 ERA and 1.48 WHIP.

Kile, although a seven-year veteran of the DMBL, had never been an established regular before joining the Newark Sugar Bears two years ago. He made his debut with the Arkansas Golden Falcons in 1993, going 0-1 with a 9.75 ERA in two starts; he made 10 starts for them the following season, going 2-1 with a 5.50 ERA. He was released following the 1995 strike and resurfaced again in the Columbia Crusaders organization, going 6-11 with a 7.39 ERA in 1997 and 4-9 with a 4.59 ERA in 6 starts in 1998 before being traded back to the Falcons, where he went 1-2 with a 4.85 ERA in six starts and one relief appearance. He remained a swing man with the Hawaii Volcanoes in 1999, going 1-4 with a 6.12 ERA in 11 games.

After the Volcanoes released him, Kile signed a minor league contract with Newark to open the 2000 season. He spent the entire year with Triple-A Dublin, working extensively with Lucky Charms pitching coach Tim Scott. Like John Burkett, Pete Harnisch, Pete Schourek and John Thomson, Scott's magic transformed another cast-off into a legitimate major league starter. At age 32, Kile had finally found a team that would give him the ball every fifth day.

In 2001, Kile proved to be Newark's workhorse, finishing first on the team in starts (33), second in innings (214.2), strikeouts (169) and WHIP (1.38) and third in wins (15-10) and complete games (3), while posting a 5.03 ERA. Among all starters in 2001, Kile tied for second in starts and was eighth in innings pitched and ninth in wins. He also had one post-season start last year, giving up 10 hits, 5 earned runs and no walks in 6.2 IP during the division championships. But the Sugar Bears would eventually come back to win the game, 8-6, and complete a four-game sweep of the Mudcats en route to their second World's Championship, giving Kile his first World Series ring.

This year, Kile had proved to be as durable as ever, logging 131.1 IP in 22 starts. He made his best start of the year just a week ago, throwing a two-hit, two-walk shutout against the Wolverines -- his second career shutout and first since 1997. It was his second straight impressive outing, after beating Mike Mussina and the Mudcats 4-2, with 10 Ks and 2 runs in 7.2 IP.

But on Sunday, Kile completely unraveled, giving up 8 hits and 6 earned runs in 4 innings before being sent to the showers. Following the 1-6 loss -- the team's fourth straight defeat -- a dejected Kile clearly was feeling out of sorts, complaining of weakness and fatigue. "I didn't have my best stuff tonight," Kile said after the game. "I just feel awful about letting the boys down."

Monday, the Sugar Bears took a red-eye into Arkansas for a three-game showdown against the Morris Division leading Golden Falcons. When Kile didn't show up at Quisenberry Memorial Park an hour before game time, a hotel security guard went to check on the starter. He was found dead in his bed, with no signs of forced entry or foul play.

The Sugar Bears asked that Monday's game be post-poned, but the heartless owner of the Golden Falcons refused the request and demanded the game be played anyway. A dejected Newark team was handed their fifth straight defeat, 8-6.

The Little Rock Coroner's Office issued a preliminary finding today, saying the likely cause of death was coronary atherosclerosis, commonly known as hardening of the arteries. At least two of Kile's coronary arteries had a blockage of 80 to 90 percent.

Kile leaves behind a wife, Flynn, and their 5-year-old twins, Kannon and Sierra, and 10-month-old son, Ryker.

The Newark Sugar Bears will wear a patch with Kile's uniform number, 57, on their left sleeve. The patches are sponsored by Heinz.

Sugar Bears' owner Butch Garretson said team trainer Dr. Friedrich von Frankenstein will "do what he can" to get Kile ready for his next start.

"I have a lot of confidence in Freddy and I'm sure he can get Darryl back on the field in time for Friday's game," Garretson said.