PHOENIX — Hector Ortiz, who spent the previous 18 years as a supervisor and coach within the Texas Rangers group, died Wednesday after a protracted battle with most cancers. He was 54.
The Rangers mentioned Ortiz died on the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, not removed from the membership’s spring coaching residence within the suburb of Shock, Arizona.
Ortiz was a coach on the minor league participant improvement workers the previous three years after serving on the foremost league workers underneath two earlier managers, Jeff Banister and Chris Woodward.
Ortiz spent 4 seasons because the first-base coach and one every as a bullpen coach and catching coordinator. He additionally managed and coached within the Rangers’ minor league system and was a supervisor for a number of years within the Puerto Rican Winter League.
The previous catcher performed 18 skilled seasons from 1988 to 2005, showing in 93 main league video games with Kansas Metropolis and 7 with the Rangers. Ortiz was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1988.
Ortiz’s three-year most cancers battle impressed Rangers coach Bobby Wilson to design a blue hoodie with a Texas-inspired catcher’s masks and “Hector Robust” on the sleeve. Proceeds from gross sales have supported households coping with most cancers.
