Angel Echevarria

Angel Santos Echevarria (May 25, 1971 – February 7, 2020) was an American professional baseball player who played outfield in the Major Leagues from 1996 to 2002. He also played in the Japanese Pacific League, from 2003 to 2004.

Amateur career
Echevarria was a star baseball player at Bassick High School in Bridgeport, Connecticut, graduating in 1989. Over his junior and senior seasons, he managed a batting average of .500.

He accepted a partial scholarship to play college baseball for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights where he was an All-Atlantic 10 Conference selection. In 1991 he played collegiate summer baseball with the Orleans Cardinals of the Cape Cod Baseball League.

Echevarria was selected by the Colorado Rockies in the 17th round of the 1992 Major League Baseball draft.

Professional career
Echevarria was a replacement player during the 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike and played an exhibition game at Coors Field in front of 47,000 fans in the spring of 1995, more than a full year before his actual Major League debut.

Death
Echevarria had been sick with a stomach virus for a number of days; he then fell and hit his head at his home. He died on February 7, 2020, at the age of 48.