Monday, December 24, 2012

#Cincinnati #Reds Ryan Freel dies in apparent suicide Saturday in Jacksonville, Fla.


Ryan Freel dies in apparent suicide 

Ryan Freel dies in apparent suicide

Ryan Freel in 2006. (Al Behrman / AP)
Ryan Freel, a utility player known for his fearless approach over an eight-year baseball career spent mostly with the Cincinnati Reds, died Saturday in Jacksonville, Fla., of whatauthorities said was a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Freel, 36, had stints with five major-league teams, including the Baltimore Orioles. His career, though, was cut short by head and other injuries and he estimated that he had suffered 10 concussions because of his all-out style of play. The final image of his time with the O’s, the Baltimore Sun’s Dan Connolly writes, “was one of potential tragedy: Freel remaining motionless on the Fenway Park basepaths after being hit in the right side of the head by an errant Justin Masterson pickoff throw during a game on April 20, 2009. Freel had to be helped off the field, stayed overnight in a Boston hotel, was placed on the disabled list with head trauma and never played for the Orioles again — traded less than three weeks later to the Chicago Cubs for outfielder Joey Gathright.”  
In July 2007, he spent five weeks on the DL with head and neck injuries after an outfield collision. He suffered headaches and memory impairment, then had season-ending knee surgery the next month.
In addition to his all-out play, he was known for his sense of humor, once telling the Dayton Daily News about an imaginary friend named Farney. ”He’s a little guy who lives in my head who talks to me and I talk to him,” he said. “That little midget in my head said, ‘That was a great catch, Ryan.’ I said, ‘Hey, Farney, I don’t know if that was you who really caught the ball, but that was pretty good if it was.’”