Cards' 1982 World Series star found dead in park

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Former All-Star catcher Darrell Porter, the Most Valuable Player of the 1982 World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals, was found dead in a park in suburban Kansas City. He was 50.

Porter was found dead late Monday next to his car in La Benite Park.

An autopsy was conducted Tuesday but the cause and manner of death was not available, pending further investigation and lab work, Jackson County medical examiner Dr. Thomas Young said.

Herb Soule, chief of the suburban Sugar Creek police department, said Porter's car went off the right side of the road in the park and got caught on a tree stump.

"I'm sure he was trying to push the car off, and I'm sure with the high temperature the heat got to him," Soule said. The National Weather Service reported the high Monday in Kansas City was 97 degrees.

Former teammate Frank White remembered Porter as a serious and determined player, good to his family, involved in the community and a good Christian.

"He ran the show from behind the plate," said White, now the special assistant to the general manager for the Royals, where Porter spent four years before playing in St. Louis from 1980 to '85.