Lidle's Beneficiaries Could Lose $1.5 Million in Benefits if He Was Piloting Plane at Time of Crash
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Cory Lidle's beneficiaries could lose out on a $1.5 million benefit from baseball's benefit plan if it's determined he was piloting his plane when it crashed into a Manhattan high-rise.
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While Lidle wasn't a member of the Major League Baseball Players Association licensing plan because he was a replacement player during the 1994-95 strike, the New York Yankees pitcher was covered by the union's benefit plan.
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The plan calls for a $450,000 life insurance benefit and has an accidental death benefit of $1.05 million. However, the plan — which applies to all big leaguers — contains an exclusion for "any incident related to travel in an aircraft ... while acting in any capacity other than as a passenger."
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Lidle and his flight instructor, Tyler Stanger, were killed Wednesday when Lidle's four-seat Cirrus SR20 crashed into a building on the Upper East Side. While Lidle was the registered owner of the aircraft, it has not been confirmed who was at the controls.
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Lidle is survived by his wife, Melanie, and 6-year-old son, Christopher. The person he designated as his beneficiary was not immediately known. In addition, Lidle's wife is entitled to a widow's benefit under baseball's plan.
Lidle had 9 years, 100 days of major league service — 72 days shy of being fully vested. Because of that, his wife would be entitled to $166,250 annually, which is 95 percent of the $175,000 maximum, an amount indexed for inflation. There is an additional $200 monthly dependent benefit added to the payments as long as the son is unmarried and until he is 19 — or 23 if he is a full-time student.
Lidle had just completed a $6.3 million, two-year contract he signed with Philadelphia before the 2005 season.
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