McClellan Column Casts Doubt on David Freese Car Wreck Story

St. Louis Cardinals fans gasped collectively at news that 2011 World Series most valuable player David Freese of Wildwood had been in a single-car accident on Nov. 22.

Was he OK? Was alcohol involved for the player whose history has included drinking and driving? The answer, .

Freese swerved to avoid a deer, police said.

Now, a column by Bill McClellan in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch casts doubt on that story. McClellan talked to two people who were in the vicinity at the time of the wreck on Thanksgiving afternoon: A cyclist named Dave Fleming and a neighbor of the home where Freese's car took out a fence named Jim Mathis.

Both acknowledge that deer are common in the area, but neither saw any that day, according to McClellan's column. Instead, they look at the skid marks and the damage that was caused and conclude that Freese may have been speeding and possibly fell asleep at the wheel.

McClellan had no comment from Freese or his representatives.

What do you make of McClellan's column and the original news reports about Freese's accident?