Lidle was on the team for only two years, in 2001 and 2002 but was a key component of those A's teams. In fact, we remembered him as a pretty good pitcher and could never quite figure out why he got shuffled off from one team to another. During that amazing 20-game win streak the A's had in 2002, Lidle helped out by throwing 32 consecutive scoreless innings.
The A's found out about Lidle's death three hours before the start of the playoff game and those still around expressed their sadness and shock over the incident. Lidle was a popular player who earned the name "Snacks" for his love of, you guessed it, snack food.
Gothamist was all over the story and you can read the real-time posting about the incident and how it played it in the Big Apple here. And you can read quotes and reaction from Eric Chavez and Barry Zito here and tributes from A's fan at A's Nation