Former Dodgers slugger Pedro Guerrero was hospitalized and in very poor condition, a spokesperson confirmed Tuesday.
Reports regarding the 60-year-old Guerrero's condition varied wildly, but spokesman Jose Melendez told NBC News Tuesday morning that Guerrero was in a coma and "fighting for his life" after suffering an aneurysm. He was hospitalized in his native Dominican Republic.
His wife told The Associated Press that Guerrero was transferred to a hospital in Manhattan.
"It was his second massive stroke," Jimenez said Tuesday by phone from New York to the radio show Grandes en los Deportes in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. "He's recovering. The doctor said he can improve. He opened his eyes and is trying to communicate."
Guerrero, 60, played 15 seasons in the major leagues. As a Dodger from 1978-88, he made three All-Star teams and finished in the top four in National League MVP voting three times.
In 1981, Guerrero was named one of three World Series co-Most Valuable Players as the Dodgers beat the New York Yankees. Guerrero hit two home runs in the six-game series.
Guerrero was traded to the Cardinals in August 1988 and played his final major league game for St. Louis in 1992. He spent a portion of the 1995 season with the Angels’ Double-A affiliate, his final year of organized baseball.
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Guerrero was reputed to be a drinker, drug user and partier off the field. He was arrested in Sept. 1999 and charged with attempting to purchase cocaine with the intent to distribute. He was acquitted in June 2000 after Guerrero’s attorney argued that his client didn't understand what he was doing.
Guerrero acknowledged in a 2010 interview that his bad habits cut short his playing career, the Register reported. By that time, he said, he had quit drinking and was ready to return to baseball. He coached at various levels from 2011-2014 in the U.S. and Mexico.
Guerrero, who was born in the Dominican Republic on June 29, 1956, suffered a stroke in Feb. 2015 but recovered quickly.
