Former Phillies Pitcher Tragically Dead at 63

Jul 20, 2025 11:25 AM EDT

The baseball world mourns the loss of former Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Jeff Bittiger, who passed away on Saturday at 63 years old.

A 1980 seventh-round pick of the New York Mets, Bittiger went 4-6 with a 4.77 ERA in 94 1/3 big-league innings. Although he reached Triple-A with the Mets, he debuted with the Phillies in 1986 following an offseason trade.

A cause of death was not announced at publication.

Most of Bittiger’s work came for the 1988 Chicago White Sox, where he posted a 4.23 ERA in 61 2/3 innings. Bittiger, who also pitched for the Minnesota Twins, started seven games for a 90-loss White Sox club. He recorded a 3.68 ERA in 29 1/3 innings out of the bullpen that year and threw his final big-league pitch in 1989.

The Chicago White Sox logo — Source: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

Bittiger spent the next decade-plus alternating between the minors and independent baseball. He retired in 2002 and spent over 20 years as an area scout for the Athletics.

“Jeff spent his whole life around the game: playing, coaching, and scouting. He was as good a person as he was a scout, and he was a hell of a scout,” former A’s GM and current ownership advisor Billy Beane said in a statement.

“He knew pitchers inside and out,” Beane added, “and you could tell how much he loved baseball just by being around him.”

According to the Athletics, Bittiger signed longtime relief pitcher Andrew Bailey out of Wagner College in 2006. Bailey won the 2009 AL Rookie of the Year and twice earned All-Star honors.