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Ex-Rays Pitcher Kennedy Dies At 28

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By THOMAS W. KRAUSE and CARTER GADDIS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 24, 2007

TAMPA - Joe Kennedy, a former pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays, died suddenly early Friday after collapsing in his in-laws' Lithia home.

He was 28.

On Thursday, Kennedy reported feeling ill, said Hillsborough County sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter. He went to bed early but woke at 1:15 a.m. Kennedy started to walk out of the bedroom but collapsed, falling backward, Carter said.

He was unresponsive.
Hillsborough County Fire Rescue transported Kennedy to Brandon Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

He is survived by his wife, Jami, and a son.

Kennedy was in the Tampa Bay area for a wedding, friends said. His home is in Boulder, Colo.

According to a report on foxsports.com, Kennedy's agent, Damon Lapa, said the cause of death was unknown but an autopsy would be performed.

"The best guess at this point is either a heart attack or a brain aneurysm," Lapa told Fox Sports. "The way he died was sudden. There is no reasonable explanation for what happened."

Kennedy was an eighth-round pick by the Rays out of Grossmont (Calif.) Junior College in 1998. He made his major-league debut with Tampa Bay on June 6, 2001, and was Manager Lou Piniella's Opening Day starter in 2003.

Dan Jennings, the Rays' former scouting director, got a call Friday morning from Craig Weissmann, the scout who discovered Kennedy.

"That was not good news to wake up to," Jennings said.

Jennings last spoke to Kennedy about a year ago, when Kennedy was playing for Oakland.

"He had a tremendous year, and they were on their way to the postseason," Jennings said.

He said he remembered Kennedy for his drive and determination.

"He was an extremely competitive and extremely competent kid," Jennings said. "He was on a mission to become a major-league pitcher."

After recruiting Kennedy in Tampa, Weissmann worked with him in Oakland. Kennedy, Weissmann said, had a great baseball story.

"Here's a guy who, all the way through his senior year of high school was a left-handed catcher," he said.

A coach in junior college saw his pitching potential. After being selected in the eighth round, Kennedy spent a few years in the minors before his move to the big leagues.
Weissmann said news of Kennedy's death was a complete shock.

"He's been a good athlete and a healthy, big, strong, strapping guy," Weissmann said. "There's never been any indication that there was anything wrong at all, much less something that could take his life."

Rays farm director Mitch Lukevics saw Kennedy's rapid ascent to the major-leagues from up close.

"He threw strikes right from the get-go," Lukevics said. "And he was able to throw his curveball over and that made him move fast. When you can do that ... he had a nice body type, 6-foot-3, threw downhill. His stuff carried him through the minor leagues at a very past pace."

Lukevics reminisced about seeing Kennedy strike out 15 batters during a short-season Class A game for Hudson Valley of the New York-Penn League, and about seeing Kennedy begin to find himself as a person before he moved on from the organization.

"You could see him not only grow as a pitcher, but as a person," Lukevics said. "He came in as a young man and left as a man. When you're coming from junior college and leaving as a big-leaguer, you're doing a lot of growing up."

Kennedy was dealt away in a three-way trade that sent him to the Colorado Rockies and brought Mark Hendrickson to the Rays during the 2003 winter meetings. He spent the past three seasons bouncing around several major-league teams, including the Athletics, Diamondbacks and Blue Jays this past season.

He filed for free agency last month.

Reporter Thomas W. Krause can be reached at (813) 259-7698 or tkrause@tampatrib.com.

Reporter Carter Gaddis can be reached at (813) 259-8291 or igaddis@tampatrib.com.

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