One of the Los Angeles Angels most popular players is on his deathbed.
MLB.com reported that six-time all-star shortstop and longtime manager Jim Fregosi was taken off life support at a Miami hospital after suffering multiple strokes during an MLB alumni cruise last weekend.
A spokesman for Fregosi's family said he was flown from the Cayman Islands to Miami on Wednesday after doctors stabilized his condition.
According to MLB.com, Fregosi was selected the No. 1 player in Angels history in a fan vote on baseball's 100th anniversary in 1969. He appeared in six all-star games with the Angels in a span from 1964-70. He often said, however, his biggest claim to fame was that he was the biggest name that the Angels gave away in the trade to the New York Mets for a group of players that included future Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan.
He also spent time with the Mets, Texas Rangers and Pittsburgh Pirates during an 18-year baseball career. Immediately after retiring from the Pirates at age 36, Fregosi became the Angels manager during the 1978 season and led the club to the 1979 American League West Division crown.
Fregosi lasted through 47 games of his fourth season with the Angels in 1981. He spent three years with the Chicago White Sox before joining the Philadelphia Phillies in 1991 and spent six seasons there.
Fregosi guided the Phillies to the 1993 National League pennant, defeating the heavily favored Atlanta Braves, before falling to the Toronto Blue Jays in the World Series in six games.
Ironically, the Blue Jays were his last stop as a manager, from 1999-2000. He has spent the past 13 seasons as a special assistant to the Atlanta Braves general manager.
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