Baseball notebook: Ex-MLB pitcher Milt Pappas dies – STLtoday.com

Ex-MLB pitcher Pappas dies

Milt Pappas, who won 209 games during his 17-year career with the Baltimore Orioles, Cincinnati Reds, Atlanta Braves and Chicago Cubs, has died. He was 76.

His widow, Judi Pappas, said Pappas died Tuesday morning of natural causes at his home in the northern Illinois community of Beecher.

The 6-foot-3 righthander was part of the Baby Birds staff in Baltimore in 1964, a young rotation with great promise. He was an All-Star by 1962 and started the Midsummer Classic in 1965, months before he and two other players were dealt to Cincinnati for future Hall of Famer Frank Robinson in one of the most lopsided trades in baseball history. He was sent to Atlanta two years later and to Chicago in 1970.

His best year with the Cubs was in 1972. Pappas went 17-7 and came within one disputed pitch of throwing a perfect game when he walked a San Diego batter with two outs in the bottom of the ninth before finishing with a no-hitter. He disputed the calls by umpire Bruce Froemming for years.

Cubs’ Schwarber has surgery • Chicago Cubs slugger Kyle Schwarber had surgery on his left knee Tuesday in Dallas.

The procedure was deemed a success, and Schwarber, 23, is expected to make a full recovery, though he is out for the rest of the season. Schwarber suffered the injury while colliding with center fielder Dexter Fowler on a drive hit by Jean Segura of the Arizona Diamondbacks on April 7.

McGwire manages • Mark McGwire managed in a regular-season game for the first time after San Diego Padres skipper Andy Green was ejected in the third inning against Pittsburgh on Tuesday night.

LaRoche doesn’t regret leaving White Sox • Former Chicago White Sox player Adam LaRoche says he has no regrets walking away from baseball and $13 million in salary after a dispute with the team over the presence of his son at the ballpark.

LaRoche, 36, told ABC News it hasn’t been the end of the world for him. LaRoche did not rule out a return to baseball someday if a team wants him.

LaRoche retired last month and said White Sox executive Kenny Williams had asked him to cut the amount of time his son, Drake, 14, was spending around the team. The incident sparked anger from players across the major leagues and prompted questions about the balance between work and parenting.

Kelly has shoulder problem • Boston Red Sox righthander and former Cardinal Joe Kelly left Tuesday’s game against Tampa Bay in the first inning with a right shoulder impingement. Kelly threw 23 pitches before leaving the game.

Reds scratch Simon • Cincinnati scratched righthander Alfredo Simon from his start against Colorado on Tuesday night because of biceps tendinitis. Cincinnati planned to call up rookie Robert Stephenson from Triple-A Louisville to start in Simon’s place.

Other baseball news • Outfielder Jarrod Dyson (strained oblique) returned to the Royals on Tuesday, and the club optioned outfielder Reymond Fuentes to Class AAA Omaha. … Marlins righthander Edwin Jackson went on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right triceps, and righthander Nick Wittgren was recalled from Triple-A New Orleans. … The White Sox recalled righthander Erik Johnson.

From news services