Screen Shot 2014-02-14 at 9.11.42 AMJim Fregosi died at a Miami hospital this morning after being taken off life support last night. He suffered a stroke while on a cruise near the Cayman Islands. His ship returned to Grand Cayman so Fregosi could be flown to Miami.

Fregosi was a part of one of the greatest baseball press conference exchanges of all-time, and oddly it involved Curt Schilling, who just last week announced that he had cancer:

The question made Jim Fregosi throw his head back and laugh, and the answer was even better.

“Will you use Curt Schilling in Game 5 until his arm falls off?” somebody asked the Philadelphia manager.

When he finished laughing, Fregosi answered: “Most likely.” Then a pause. “Maybe more.”

Every game Schilling pitches seems to involve added incentive, and he didn’t need any extra Thursday night. With his team trailing the Toronto Blue Jays, three games to one, in the World Series, and with a bullpen whose arms had gone limp, he was in a must-win situation.

Fregosi was 71.

Of course, last night, Howard Eskin did just about the worst thing a reporter could do– pronounced Fregosi dead before he died:

7:10 p.m.

Screen Shot 2014-02-14 at 9.06.05 AM

7:38 p.m.

Screen Shot 2014-02-14 at 9.06.11 AM

Nice job.