Sad news this evening. Last night we learned that former Phillies manager Jim Fregosi had suffered a stroke. Last night, Fregosi was taken off of life support,
Fregosi had a stellar baseball career and stellar managerial career.
In his playing career, Fregosi appeared in six All-Star games at shortstop. In 1967 he was honored with a gold glove for his work at the position. His play for the California Angels led to his number 11 being retired back in 1998. Fregosi also played for the New York Mets, Texas Rangers, and the Pittsburgh Pirates in his career. Fregosi batted a lifetime .265, compiling 1786 hits along the way.
Fregosi would return to the Angels as their manager at just age 36 in 1978. He would manage four seasons for the Angels, taking them to the ALCS in 1979. Fregosi then managed the Chicago White Sox from 1986-1988 and had three fifth-place finishes. Fregosi managed the Phillies starting in the third week of the season of 1991 and was with the club until 1996, leading Phillies' fans favorite 1993 squad to a National League title before losing to the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1993 World Series. The Toronto Blue Jays would be who gave Fregosi his last managerial job. Fregosi managed the Blue Jays in 1999 and 2000 to back-to-back third place finishes.
Fregosi was working as special assistant to Braves General Manager Frank Wren. Fregosi was beginning his 14th season with the club until his death. Fregosi's son, Jim Jr., works as a special assistant to Royals General Manager Dayton Moore.
Fregosi was on a Major League Baseball alumni cruise when he suffered the stroke at just 71 years old.
I still remember the day vividly that Fregosi was hired as the Phillies' manager. My dad and I had plans to go to the Phillies game that night, and we had learned on the news that Nick Leyva had been dismissed. Without the immediacy of news that we have today, we went down to the ballpark unaware of who would be leading the Phillies team.
My favorite Fregosi memory outside of the Phillies' pennant run came when he was manager of the Toronto Blue Jays. There was a pitch so low and outside it almost hit the dirt. The umpire called the pitch a strike. I have never seen a manager run out of the dugout so fast to argue. It was indicative of his great passion for the game of baseball.
Check out this interview he did a couple years ago, reflecting on his career:
