Jeff Bittiger, former major league pitcher and longtime Athletics scout, dies at 63

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Jeff Bittiger, a pitcher who played four seasons in the major leagues and spent the last 22 years as a scout in the Athletics organization, died Saturday morning, the A's announced. He was 63. The team did not disclose a cause of death. Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, Bittiger made his major league debut for Philadelphia on Sept. 2, 1986. The 5-foot-10 right-hander went 4-6 with a 4.77 ERA in 33 appearances for the Phillies, Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox. He pitched his last major league game in 1989 for Chicago, and the A's said he continued to play independent ball until age 40. As an area scout for the A's, Bittiger signed right-hander Andrew Bailey, the AL Rookie of the Year in 2009, and he was part of the team's professional scouting staff for the past decade. "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," Billy Beane, a senior adviser to Athletics owner John Fisher who previously served as the club's general manager, said in a statement. "He knew pitchers inside and out and you could tell how much he loved baseball just by being around him."