Former Dodgers slugger Pedro Guerrero was reported Tuesday to be hospitalized and in very poor condition.
Reports regarding the 60-year-old Guerrero’s condition varied wildly, noted The Orange County Register.
A Miami-based journalist reported that Guerrero has died, according to the newspaper. Three other reports indicated Guerrero is alive, but in failing health.
One ESPN reporter said Guerrero suffered a heart attack, and another reported that he suffered a stroke. A spokesperson for the Dodgers had no information about Guerreroís condition.
Guerrero, 60, played 15 seasons in the major leagues. As a Dodger from 1978-88, he made three All-Star teams and finished in the top four in National League MVP voting three times.
In 1981, Guerrero was named one of three World Series co-Most Valuable Players as the Dodgers beat the New York Yankees. Guerrero hit two home runs in the six-game series.
Guerrero was traded to the Cardinals in August 1988 and played his final major league game for St. Louis in 1992. He spent a portion of the 1995 season with the Angelsí Double-A affiliate, his final year of organized baseball.
Guerrero was reputed to be a drinker, drug user and partier off the field. He was arrested in Sept. 1999 and charged with attempting to purchase cocaine with the intent to distribute. He was acquitted in June 2000 after Guerreroís attorney argued that his client didn’t understand what he was doing.
Guerrero acknowledged in a 2010 interview that his bad habits cut short his playing career, the Register reported. By that time, he said, he had quit drinking and was ready to return to baseball. He coached at various levels from 2011-2014 in the U.S. and Mexico.
Guerrero, who was born in the Dominican Republic on June 29, 1956, suffered a stroke in Feb. 2015 but recovered quickly.
—City News Service