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Former Rockies, Cubs outfielder Angel Echevarria dies at 48

Angel Echevarria, who played in the majors from 1996-2002, died on Friday night in a Connecticut hospital. His cause of death is still unknown.
Angel Echevarria, who played in the majors from 1996-2002, died on Friday night in a Connecticut hospital. His cause of death is still unknown. (Nick Laham/Getty Images)

Former Colorado Rockies outfielder and first baseman Angel Echevarria died on Friday in a Connecticut hospital, according to the CTPost. He was 48.

Echevarria, per the report, was feeling sick with a stomach virus throughout the week. He fell on Friday in his Bridgeport home and hit his head, his girlfriend, Jazmine Cox, told the CTPost. His cause of death is still unknown.

Echevarria played in the league from 1996-2002, most notably with the Rockies before brief stops with the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs. He hit .280 throughout his seven seasons, hitting 21 home runs and 90 RBIs.

Following a short playing stint in Japan, Echevarria moved back to Connecticut and started “Simply Baseball,” a baseball training clinic for children in the area.

“He was caring and generous and loved working with children,” Cox said, via the CTPost. “He was always doing free clinics. He loved Bridgeport. Everyone will say he had a kind word for everyone. He was so giving, so generous, so full of life. He always wanted to give back. He would always say he grew up here, that Bridgeport made him who he was, and he was not going to leave.

“He was loved by so many. It’s overwhelming the number of people who have reached out. It’s a testament to who he was. He lived, he shared, everyone learned from him. And not just baseball. That is where he shined. He used to tell me, ‘When I have a kid in the batting cages, I don’t want to teach them how to be a pro player, but how to be a great young man or young woman.’”

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