Shocking News: Atlanta Braves Player dies in car crash on is way to….
According to police officials and his previous clubs, Anthony Varvaro, a former Major League Baseball pitcher who retired in 2016 to become a police officer in the New York City region, was killed in a car crash on his way to work at the Sept. 11 memorial service in Manhattan on Sunday morning.
Varvaro, 37, was a Port Authority of New York and New Jersey official. He played baseball at St. John’s before going on to have a six-year major league career as a bullpen pitcher with the Seattle Mariners, Atlanta Braves, and Boston Red Sox.
“We are deeply saddened by the passing of former Braves pitcher Anthony Varvaro,” stated the Braves in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and colleagues.”
We are heartbroken to learn about the death of former Braves pitcher Anthony Varvaro. Anthony, 37, spent portions of six seasons in the major leagues, including four with the Atlanta Braves.
In 2016, he voluntarily left MLB to become a Port Authority police officer.
He was on his way to serve at the World Trade Center Command in honor of the September 11, 2001 events when he was involved in a car accident.
His family and coworkers are in our thoughts and prayers.
The accident occurred in New Jersey on Sunday morning. Messages seeking information regarding the crash were left with state police in New Jersey.
St. John’s baseball coach Mike Hampton was “at a loss for words” in the aftermath of Varvaro’s death.
“Not only was he everything you could want out of a ballplayer, but he was everything you could want in a person,” said Hampton, who was an assistant coach at St. John’s for all three of Varvaro’s seasons there. “My heart goes out to his family, friends, teammates and fellow officers.”
According to Port Authority officials, Varvaro “represented the very best of this agency, and will be remembered for his courage and commitment to service.”
“On this sorrowful day, the Port Authority mourns the passing of
“Our grief only deepens today with the passing of Officer Varvaro,” stated Port Authority chairman Kevin O’Toole and executive director Rick Cotton in a statement.
Varvaro, who grew up on Staten Island in New York, was picked in the 12th round by Seattle in 2005. He was a member of the Mariners in 2010 and the Atlanta Braves from 2011 to 2014.
Varvaro was traded to the Red Sox in late 2014, and he tossed 11 innings for Boston in the first few weeks of the 2015 season. The Chicago Cubs claimed him off waivers from Boston in May 2015, but he was returned to the Red Sox after tests revealed he had an elbow issue in his right pitching arm, necessitating season-ending surgery.
Varvaro pitched 18323 innings in 166 games in his major league career, compiling a 3.23 ERA, 150 strikeouts, and one save.
He played in 18 games for Boston’s top minor league affiliate in 2016, before retiring in June and completing his police academy training.
Varvaro, who studied criminal justice at St. John’s and graduated in 2005, told the student publication The Torch in December 2016 that while pitching in the majors, he asked about police jobs at the Port Authority.
“I figured that I had a pretty successful career in baseball, I had played a number of seasons, and I was fine moving on to the next step of my life,” he said in a newspaper interview.
Varvaro joined the Port Authority Police Department in December 2016 and was assigned to patrol for nearly five years before transferring to the Port Authority Police Academy to become an officer.
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