Former major league player and analyst George Frazier has passed away, according to an announcement from the Rockies. He was 68.
After playing at the University of Oklahoma, Frazier entered pro ball as a ninth-round pick of the Brewers in the 1976 draft. While still in the minor leagues, he was traded to the Cardinals in a swap that sent catcher Buck Martinez to Milwaukee. Frazier made his MLB debut with St. Louis in May 1978, eventually appearing in 14 games as a rookie. He bounced on and off the active roster for the next two seasons.
Midway through the ’81 campaign, the Cards dealt Frazier to the Yankees. He pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings to help the Yanks past the A’s in that year’s AL Championship Series. He was charged with a trio of losses in their World Series defeat at the hands of the Dodgers, though, allowing seven runs in 3 2/3 frames over three outings.
Frazier put that rocky World Series showing behind him to establish himself as a key reliever by the following season. He surpassed 100 innings with a sub-3.50 ERA in each of the next two years. Over the 1983-84 offseason, New York dealt him to the Indians alongside outfielder Otis Nixon for All-Star infielder Toby Harrah. Frazier didn’t spend much time in Cleveland. Before the ’84 deadline, the Indians moved him to the Cubs with Rick Sutcliffe (who’d go on to win the NL Cy Young award that year) and Ron Hassey in a blockbuster that netted Cleveland Joe Carter and Mel Hall.
The right-handed Frazier tossed 63 2/3 innings for Chicago down the stretch to help them to the NLCS. He struggled over the next couple seasons but intrigued the Twins enough that they acquired him at the 1986 trade deadline. Frazier spent a season and a half in Minnesota to wrap up his MLB playing career. The ’87 Twins went on to win the World Series; Frazier’s last MLB outing was a two-inning scoreless appearance against the Cardinals in that year’s Fall Classic.
After his playing career came to a close, Frazier embarked on a lengthy run as a broadcaster. He worked as a color analyst for the Twins for a time before joining the Rockies’ booth for the 1998 season. He’d spend nearly two decades in Colorado, calling games there through 2015.
Frazier spent upwards of four decades in the game. As a player, he pitched in 415 big league contests. He posted a career 4.20 ERA through 675 2/3 innings, striking out 449 hitters. He was credited with 35 wins, finished 193 games and picked up 29 saves. He added six playoff games with three different franchises and won a World Series to close his career.
MLBTR joins others around the game in sending condolences to Frazier’s family, friends, former teammates and loved ones.
RIP
Feels about as close to losing a member of family as anything else. I spent over 3 hours a day six months a year for over a decade listening to this man being a narrator of my life. Or at least what I was watching in my life. I just don’t really have the words. God this sucks.
Remember the good times and keep your chin up… from all your Padres familia, amigo. RIP GF
Looks like hiflew the big tough confident stud muted me. I guess I made him cry, or break a nail. or soil a maxi pad.
It’s pretty funny that he thinks some stranger on the radio is basically a family member, and screams “God this sucks!!” to the sky when that stranger passes away. Weirdo-City!
Really sincere post Hiflew. I hope the Rockies honor George with something permanent.
Looks like the Total Weirdo hiflew muted me. Why would that be?!
Tennyson: “I just don’t really have the words. God this sucks!” written about a total stranger is praised as “sincere”??!
No, that’s called Mentally Ill.
Both of you, stop being sissies, and get a grip.
We all send our thoughts and prayers to his family and friends. I also want to thank him for a wonderful baseball career. May he RIP
hiflew: So you’re a close friend or close family member?
Too young. RIP.
Way too young. RIP
Always sad to read about these former players passing away. It’s just that I’ve never heard of most of them. RIP.
As a yankee fan,I remember that ’81 world series and although it was a tough pill to swallow at the time,I never felt he was the reason for the loss.He proved himself over the next year plus with them b4 the trade. Condolences to his family and friends and now the cornfield in the sky has one more good reliever.Rest in peace George.
Ron Davis was garbage in that series. Lemon lost faith in him. which wound up setting Frazier for the fall.
George’s last MLB game was a sterling 2 inning performance in the 1987 World Series, earning him his World Series ring.
I watched him with the Yankees and later with the Cubs on WGN. Hate hearing things like this but it’s going to happen to all of us. Enjoy life it’s short. RIP George Frazier.
RIP George Frazier. Gone far too soon. What A. Lincoln once called “the silent artillery of time” always takes it toll. And players of our youth seem to melt away.
RIP George. 1984 NL East Champion Chicago Cub.
RIP
George Frazier brings back memories of listening to Jack Buck or Mike Shannon on KMOX broadcasts announcing that George was coming into the game to pitch relief for the Cardinals. And another former Cardinal is now gone from this world.
RIP George
Wow. Shocked. Way too daggone young. RIP.
George was a beauty. Always a smile and an opinion. Had a great heart for people, especially those young aspiring pitchers he helped along the way around NE Oklahoma. A college teammate and a friend for 50 years. Really going to miss him. My thoughts and prayers go out to his wife and children.
Sad.
George was definitely a beauty. Always had a smile and an opinion. He loved people, especially those young aspiring pitching prospects he worked with around NE Oklahoma. Was a college teammate of mine and a friend for 50 years. My thoughts and prayers go out to his wife and family. I’m really going to miss him.
His son Parker was a pitching prospect who looked good at times in the minors but was derailed by injuries. Once in a ST game the Rockies surprised George by bringing in Parker while George was announcing, which was a nice moment.
It occasionally was mentioned on broadcasts that George was a smoker, which may explain his relatively young passing. RIP.