Major-league pitcher Joe Kennedy, who finished last season with the Toronto Blue Jays, died early Friday morning. He was 28.
Kennedy passed out at home and was taken to a hospital, a Tampa Bay, Fla., county sheriff spokeswoman said. She had no further details.
Pitcher Joe Kennedy joined the Blue Jays in late August.
(Winslow Townson/Associated Press)
Kennedy's agent, Damon Lapa, told ESPN.com that Kennedy died while at home with family in Florida.
"We were terribly shocked," Blue Jays president Paul Godfrey said. "From what we understand he was in Bradenton … to be the best man at a wedding today."
Godfrey said he didn't have any particulars on the cause of death.
"Obviously, when a 28-year-old man dies, ball player or not, it's a terrible, terrible thing," he said.
Kennedy, a left-hander, was 43-61 in seven major-league seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays, Colorado Rockies, Oakland Athletics, Arizona Diamondbacks and Toronto Blue Jays. He was a free agent at the time of his death.
Kennedy pitched almost 909 innings in 222 career appearances, compiling a 4.79 earned-run average.
ESPN.com first reported the news of his death.
Kennedy made his major-league debut in June 2001 and made his last appearance in relief on Sept. 29 in a 5-3 win over Tampa Bay.
He began last season with Oakland, appearing in 27 games. He was claimed off waivers by Arizona in August and released Aug. 15 after three appearances.
The Blue Jays signed him Aug. 29, and Kennedy got his first win as a Blue Jay on Sept. 21 in New York against the Yankees.
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