Angels shaken up by hotel incident

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By Lyle Spencer / MLB.com

04/13/10 8:05 PM ET

NEW YORK -- Tuesday in midtown Manhattan got off to a strange and unsettling start for the Angels when a 39-year-old man plunged to his death in an apparent suicide from the 42nd floor of Le Parker Meridien hotel, where the team was staying.

"A tragedy -- something you don't want to see," said pitcher Matt Palmer, who said he was walking across the street in the immediate aftermath of the incident. "Anybody would have a lingering [impression]. It's something you want to put behind you."

It happened at 8:15 a.m. ET, 45 minutes before the scheduled departure of a team bus.

"We were stunned, of course," Torii Hunter said. "A guy jumped out of a window."

Hunter quickly added that it "had nothing to do with" a 7-5 loss the Yankees, in the Bronx Bombers' home opener, later pinned on the reeling Angels at Yankee Stadium.

"I don't know a lot about it," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "I just know those guys were shaken up, having witnessed it."

Palmer said he was alone when he became aware of the death with the arrival of local authorities, who covered the body with a sheet.

Lyle Spencer is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.