Former All-Star and longtime pitching coach Phil Regan passed away at age 89, his attorney told Jeff Passan of ESPN. He died peacefully of natural causes, according to Dave Campbell of The Associated Press.
Regan was a Michigan native who played a year of college ball at Western Michigan before signing with the Tigers. He debuted with his hometown club in 1960. Regan spent his first few seasons working out of the Detroit rotation. His career took off after the Tigers swapped him to the Dodgers for infielder Dick Tracewski. Regan moved to the bullpen with Los Angeles and had a career season in 1966.
The 6’3″ righty fired 116 2/3 innings of 1.62 ERA ball to earn a trip to the All-Star Game. Regan led the National League with 21 saves and placed seventh in MVP balloting. He also won 14 games out of the bullpen, leading teammate Sandy Koufax to jokingly anoint him with the excellent nickname, “The Vulture.” He added two scoreless appearances in the World Series, though the Dodgers would be swept by the Orioles.
Regan spent the next season and a half in L.A. He was traded to the Cubs amidst an excellent ’68 campaign in which he led MLB with 25 saves and 62 games finished while turning in a 2.27 ERA through 134 2/3 frames. Regan pitched in the big leagues through the 1972 season, wrapping his playing days with a brief stint for the White Sox. He finished with a 3.84 earned run average across 551 appearances, though that’s inflated by his early work as a starter. Regan had a 3.30 ERA with 92 saves and just shy of 400 strikeouts over 721 innings out of the bullpen.
The playing days were just a fraction of Regan’s decades-long run in baseball. He almost immediately moved into coaching, beginning at the college ranks back in his home state at Grand Valley State University. Regan got his first professional coaching job in the mid-1980s with the Mariners. He’d also work for the Dodgers and Cleveland before landing the Orioles managerial job in 1995.
Regan managed Baltimore to a 71-73 record during a strike-shortened season and was replaced by Davey Johnson the following year. He’d never manage an MLB team again but had ample experience managing in winter ball and worked in various pitching coach roles for the next couple decades. He spent some time as a pitching coach with the Cubs and Cleveland again.
Then 82, Regan was the interim pitching coach for the Mets as recently as the 2019 season. Jacob deGrom, Zack Wheeler, Steven Matz, Edwin Díaz, Paul Sewald and Seth Lugo are still active big leaguers whom Regan coached. MLBTR joins others around the game in sending condolences to his family, friends, loved ones, former teammates and the various players whose lives Regan touched over his extended run.
