Former MLB pitcher Dave Frost passed away on April 17th. No cause of death was released. He was 70.
A Stanford graduate where he played both baseball and basketball, the 6 foot 6 righty was drafted in the 18th Round of the 1974 MLB Draft by the Chicago White Sox in 1974. Frost would make his big league debut with the Chisox towards the end of the 1977 season. His first two big league starts were against the California Angels. So effective was Frost against the Angels that they would acquire him prior to the 1978 season along with fellow pitching prospect Chris Knapp and catcher Brian Downing in exchange for slugger Bobby Bonds, pitcher Richard Dotson and outfielder Thad Bosley.
After spending the 1978 season going back and forth between the majors and Triple AAA, Frost would have a breakthrough season in 1979 with the Halos. Angels fans might bemoan the fact the team hasn't been in the postseason in nearly a decade. Entering the 1979 season, the Angels had yet to make a postseason appearance of any kind since their debut in 1961. Frost was a big part of changing that as he and Nolan Ryan each had 16 wins that season as the Angels would win the AL West title. Over 239.1 innings pitched, Frost posted a 3.57 ERA and 12 complete games. The Angels would fall to the Baltimore Orioles in the ALCS in four games with Frost being shelled by the O's in Game 2 giving up 5 runs in 1.1 IP against that year's AL Cy Young winner Mike Flanagan.
However, it appeared Frost was on the verge of becoming one of the premier pitchers in the American League. Unfortunately, Frost sustained an elbow injury and was ineffective for the Angels in both 1980 and 1981. Frost would sign with the Kansas City Royals as a free agent in 1982 but his fortunes did not improve. He would be back in the minor leagues in 1983 splitting the year with the Philadelphia Phillies and Pittsburgh Pirates organizations. Frost's professional career was over at the age of 30. In 99 appearances (84 starts) over 5 seasons, Frost went 33-37 with a 4.10 ERA with 222 strikeouts and 174 walks.
There's not a great deal known about the last 40 years of Frost's life aside from his involvement in youth baseball in some capacity as illustrated by this event he was involved in Fullerton, California back in 2010 and was involved with the groundbreaking of a local sports park in 2012. I leave with you Frost giving a pep talk to some little leaguers back in 2014 when he was the Mental Toughness Coach for MLB's Urban Youth Academy. R.I.P.
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