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| Photo Credit: AP. |
(AP) - Anthony Varvaro, a former Major League Baseball pitcher who retired in 2016 to become a police officer in the New York City area, was killed in a car accident Sunday morning on his way to work at the Sept. 11 memorial ceremony in Manhattan, according to police officials and his former teams.
Varvaro, 37,
was an officer for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. He played
baseball at St. John’s University in New York City before a six-year career in
the majors as a relief pitcher with the Seattle Mariners, Atlanta Braves and
Boston Red Sox.
“We are
deeply saddened on the passing of former Braves pitcher Anthony Varvaro,” the
Braves said in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and
colleagues.”
St. John’s
head baseball coach Mike Hampton said he was “at a loss for words” over
Varvaro’s death.
“Not only
was he everything you could want out of a ball player, he was everything you
could want in a person,” said Hampton, who was an assistant coach at St. John’s
during all three of Varvaro’s seasons there. “My heart goes out to his family,
friends, teammates and fellow officers.”
Port
Authority officials issued a statement to the media.
“On this
solemn occasion as the Port Authority mourns the loss of 84 employees in the
attacks on the World Trade Center — including 37 members of the Port Authority
Police Department — our grief only deepens today with the passing of Officer
Varvaro,” the statement said.