Angel Santos Echevarria (May 25, 1971 – February 7, 2020) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

player who played

outfield The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area. In cricket, baseball and ...

in the Major Leagues from 1996 to 2002. He also played in the Japanese

Pacific League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship competes against the winner in the Central League for the annual Japan Series. It currently consis ...

, from 2003 to 2004.

Amateur career

Echevarria was a star baseball player at

Bassick High School Bassick High School is a US public trade high school located in Bridgeport, Connecticut. History In 1924, the Bassick family home was demolished to begin construction for a school. The E & F Construction Company was awarded the contract after s ...

in Bridgeport, Connecticut, graduating in 1989. Over his junior and senior seasons, he managed a

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of .500. He accepted a partial scholarship to play

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

for the

Rutgers Scarlet Knights The Rutgers Scarlet Knights are the athletic teams that represent Rutgers University's New Brunswick campus. In sports, Rutgers is famously known for being the "Birthplace of College Football", hosting the first ever intercollegiate football ...

where he was an All-

Atlantic 10 Conference The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Eastern ...

selection. In 1991 he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the

Orleans Cardinals The Orleans Firebirds, formerly the Orleans Cardinals, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Orleans, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Firebirds play t ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

. Echevarria was selected by the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

in the 17th round of the

1992 Major League Baseball draft The 1992 Major League Baseball draft took place on June 1, 1992, through a conference call involving all 28 MLB teams of the time. Phil Nevin of Cal State Fullerton was the first overall selection, chosen by the Houston Astros. Derek Jeter, select ...

Professional career

Echevarria was a

replacement player In professional sports, a replacement player is an athlete who is not a member of the league's players association and plays during a labor dispute such as a strike or lockout, serving as a strikebreaker. Instances of replacement players Nation ...

during the

1994–95 Major League Baseball strike The 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike was the eighth and longest work stoppage in baseball history, as well as the fourth in-season work stoppage in 22 years. The strike began on August 12, 1994, and resulted in the remainder of that season ...

and played an exhibition game at

Coors Field Coors Field is a baseball stadium in downtown Denver, Colorado. It is the home field of Major League Baseball's Colorado Rockies. Opened in 1995, the park is located in Denver's Lower Downtown neighborhood, two blocks from Union Station. The sta ...

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.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Echevarria, Angel 1971 births 2020 deaths Acereros de Monclova players American expatriate baseball players in Mexico American expatriate baseball players in Japan Bridgeport Bluefish players Chicago Cubs players Colorado Rockies players Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters players Major League Baseball outfielders Mexican League baseball first basemen Mexican League baseball left fielders Mexican League baseball right fielders Milwaukee Brewers players Nippon Ham Fighters players Nippon Professional Baseball outfielders Orleans Firebirds players Rutgers Scarlet Knights baseball players Baseball players from Bridgeport, Connecticut Accidental deaths from falls Accidental deaths in Connecticut Atenienses de Manatí (baseball) players Bend Rockies players Central Valley Rockies players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Iowa Cubs players New Haven Ravens players Lobos de Arecibo players