Former Atlanta Braves relief pitcher turned police office Anthony Varvaro ended up passing away in a car crash while driving to a September 11 commemoration event in Manhattan, New York. He collided with a driver on the wrong side of the road and both were killed in the accident.
The MLB pitcher turned Port Authority police officer was on the New Jersey Turnpike in Hudson County at about 4:30 AM, en route to Lower Manhattan for the commemoration, when a Toyota RAV4 on the wrong side of the road struck his Nissan Maxima. The strong impact of the collision forced the car on to the concrete barrier.
A spokesman for the New Jersey State Police, Charles Marchan, said in a statement that the driver of the Toyota, Henry A. Plazas, 30 years of age, and Mr. Varvaro, 37 years of age, were killed.
“On this solemn occasion as the Port Authority mourns the loss of 84 employees in the attacks on the World Trade Center — including 37 members of the Port Authority Police Department — our grief only deepens today with the passing of Officer Varvaro,” the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said in a statement.
In a statement issued by Varvaro’s family, they mentioned that “words cannot express our heartbreak and how much we will miss Anthony.”
Varvaro was drafted in the 12th round of 2005 by the Seattle Mariners. Following on from Seattle, he went to Atlanta in 2011, where he spent four seasons as a relief pitcher for the Braves.
‘We are deeply saddened on the passing of former Braves pitcher Anthony Varvaro. Anthony, 37, played parts of six seasons in the majors, including four with Atlanta. He voluntarily retired from MLB in 2016 to become a Port Authority police officer,’ tweeted Braves after his passing.
He was then traded to the Boston Red Sox in 2014. After leaving, he realised that he would need a second elbow surgery and that’s when he arrived at a crossroads in his career. He voluntarily retired from MLB in 2016 and two days after his last baseball game in June that year, he enrolled in the Port Authority police academy. He became a Port Authority police office in December, 2016.
Varvaro is survived by his wife, Kerry, and his four children