AUTOPSY FINDS COCAINE IN PORTER'S SYSTEM

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Former All-Star catcher Darrell Porter had cocaine
in his system when he died, according to autopsy results released Monday.

Porter, 50, had a level of cocaine in his system "typical of someone who
uses (cocaine) recreationally," Jackson County medical examiner Dr. Thomas
Young said.

He did not die of an overdose, Young said, but of a condition called
excited delirium, which causes "behavior that is agitated, bizarre and
potentially violent," and stopped Porter's heart.

Porter, who played for four teams and was the MVP of the 1982 World Series
with the St. Louis Cardinals, was found dead Aug. 5 next to his car in a park.

During spring training in 1980, Porter checked into a drug-and-alcohol
rehabilitation center. He chronicled his struggle with addiction and
recovery from it in a 1984 book, "Snap Me Perfect! The Darrell Porter Story."

The autopsy found an "insignificant" amount of other drugs in Porter's
system, Young said, without elaborating.

Porter had an enlarged heart, common among drug users or those with high
cholesterol, Young said.

Police said Porter's car went off the right side of the road and got caught
on a tree stump in La Benite Park in Sugar Creek, a Kansas City suburb.

He got out of the car, walked to the nearby Missouri River and then back to
his car.

There was no evidence to support earlier speculation by authorities that
Porter tried to push the car off the stump. Authorities guessed that Porter
might have overheated in high heat and humidity.