A former major league pitcher who finished his baseball career with the Boston Red Sox was killed Sunday in a car crash.
Anthony Varvaro, a Staten Island native who retired from baseball in 2016 to become a Port Authority police officer in New York, was on his way to an assignment at the World Trade Center for an event commemorating the 21st anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks when he was hit by a vehicle driving the wrong way in the Holland Tunnel in Jersey City, N.J.
He was 37.
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"We are deeply saddened by the passing of former Red Sox pitcher Anthony Varvaro," the Red Sox said in a statement Sunday. "We send our sincerest condolences to the Varvaro family."
Varvaro was drafted by Mariners in 2005 out of St. John's University and made his major league debut with Seattle in 2010. He spent the next four seasons with the Braves before Atlanta traded him to Boston following the 2014 season. The right-hander appeared in nine games for the Red Sox during the 2015 season and pitched in 18 games for Triple-A Pawtucket in 2016 before retiring in June to begin police training.
Varvaro finished his major-league career with a 3.23 ERA and 150 strikeouts over 183.2 innings pitched.
Boston Red Sox
"Not only was he everything you could want out of a ball player, he was everything you could want in a person," St. John's baseball coach Mike Hampton told the Associated Press of Varvaro. “My heart goes out to his family, friends, teammates and fellow officers."