Former outfielder Angel Echevarria died Friday. We shared the same home town of Bridgeport, CT:

He was not feeling well this past week, and Friday fell and hit his head, according to his girlfriend of five years, Jazmine Cox. His cause of death was unknown according to Cox, who said Echevarria called her Friday after his fall in his Bridgeport home.

“He was caring and generous and loved working with children,” said Cox, who met Echevarria when the two worked at The Factory (formerly The Batter’s Box) in Norwalk. “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.

CTPost.com

My thoughts go out to his family and friends.

Echevarria posted a good .343 OBP in his seven year MLB career, but never played much. In 1999 he came to the plate 211 times, the most in a season for him and slashed .293/.360/.503, no doubt helped by playing his home games at Coors Field. I suspect he didn’t play outfield well enough to stay at that position, and didn’t hit for enough power as a first baseman to stay at that position.