George Frazier, a substitute pitcher who played in the World Series twice in a decade-long MLB career before becoming a broadcaster, died Monday in Tulsa at age 68.
A specific cause of death was not disclosed, but he was battling an undisclosed illness, according to police Denver mail.
Frazier is remembered by Colorado Rockies fans as the team’s color commentator from 1998 to 2015.
“In a game filled with charismatic characters, George was at the head table,” Drew Goodman, a longtime Rockies play-by-play announcer, told the Denver Post.
Best known as Rich “Goose” Gossage’s setup man for the New York Yankees, Frazier also pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Chicago Cubs and Minnesota Twins, winning a World Series in his final season with the latter.
George Frazier, pictured here in Chicago’s Comiskey Park, died Monday in Tulsa at age 68
The Rockies also released a statement on Monday.
“We are deeply saddened by the passing of former Rockies color analyst, George Frazier,” the statement began.
A retired MLB pitcher, George was a mainstay and voice behind many classic calls on Rockies broadcasts from 1998-2015. For a generation of Rockies fans, George Frazier was synonymous with Rockies baseball. Our thoughts are with George’s wife, Kay, and his four children, Matt, Brian, Parker and Georgia, during this time.”
A lanky, six-foot-tall right-hander, Frazier was a star at Hillcrest High School in Springfield, Missouri, where he starred alongside two other future high school seniors in Bob Detherage and Keith Drumright. Although he was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 13th round, Frazier instead enrolled at the University of Oklahoma before finally being drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the ninth round of the 1976 draft.
A year later, he was dealt to the St. Louis Cardinals for Buck Martinez, and quickly became a reliable bullpen option for manager Ken Boyer.
Frazier is remembered by Rockies fans as the team’s color commentator from 1998 to 2015
Frazier dropped his ERA to an impressive 2.74 in 1980, but had his best season in the Bronx in 1981 after trading Rafael Santana and posting a minuscule 1.63 ERA while serving as Rich ‘Goose’ Gossage’s setup man.
Frazier made the first of two career World Series appearances that season, but pitched poorly and yielded seven earned runs in just 3.2 innings of work against the eventual champion Los Angeles Dodgers. Worst of all, he became the first pitcher to lose three games in a single best-of-seven World Series.
As disappointing as that was, Frazier literally and figuratively got a pat on the back from cantankerous owner George Steinbrenner.
“It wasn’t your fault, kid,” Steinbrenner told Frazier, as told by the reliever to the New York Times in 2011. “Next year you’ll be a Yankee, don’t worry about that.”
Frazier was a Yankee the following season and remained a solid option out of the bullpen for the battalion of managers toiling under Steinbrenner’s wrath in the 1980s: Gene Michael, Bob Lemon, Gene Michael, Clyde King and Billy Martin.
During that time, he bonded with Yankee legend and Oklahoma resident Mickey Mantle.
“Mickey walks up to him and says, ‘Hey, I heard you’re from Oklahoma,'” so we sat together for 15 or 20 minutes and after the game we sat and talked again,’ Frazier told the Times. “From that point on, Mickey sort of accepted me as one of his buddies.”
In 1984, Frazier faced outfielder Otis Nixon to Cleveland, who traded him to the Chicago Cubs along with Rick Sutcliffe four months later for a package that included slugger Joe Carter.
Frazier was dealt one last time in 1987, landing in Minnesota.
George Frazier talks to catcher Rick Cerone during the 1981 World Series
He would go on to pitch two scoreless innings in a World Series loss to the Cardinals, but the Twins would eventually win the title in seven games and Frazier would never pitch in the majors again.
Frazier later returned to the World Series as an announcer with the Rockies in 2007, as the team fell to the Boston Red Sox.
His son, Parker, also had a professional baseball career, reaching Triple-A with the Rockies, White Sox, and Diamondbacks organizations.
In 2011, Frazier described himself as lucky to the New York Times: I had no right to pitch in the 1981 World Series. I had no right to pitch in the 1987 World Series. It was a privilege to have the opportunity got to do that, and I still feel that every day.’