HERMOSILLO, Mexico -- Francisco Barrios, a former pitcher for the Chicago White Sox involved in a controversial drug arrest last summer, died Friday of a heart attack at the age of 28 in his native city of Hermosillo.
Barrios was reportedly close to signing with the Milwaukee Brewers after a torrid winter season with the Orange-Pickers of Hermosillo in the Mexican Pacific League.
'He was always a great player. His death fills us with sadness. There aren't too many 'Pancho' Barrios in baseball,' said one fan at the wake attended by some 100 fans outside Barrios' parents house, where he died Friday afternoon.
Barrios, who had a career major-league record of 28-31 in eight seasons with Chicago, was picked up by police June 24 of last year for disorderly conduct at a Chicago disco. When police asked for his drivers license, two packets of cocaine fell out of Barrios' pocket. He was later charged with possession of cocaine, and on July 3, voluntarily entered a drug and alcohol treatment center for rehabilitation.
He injured a shoulder in late 1981 and was out for the first part of the winter league, where he pitched each year for the Orange-Pickers.
But in the last six starts before his death, Barrios hurled five shutouts, and appeared to be on the road to recovery.
Barrios, who collaborated with John 'Blue Moon' Odom on a no-hitter for the White Sox against Oakland in 1976, left his wife Carmen Alicia and a 5-year-old child, Gabriela.
'I just can't believe it,' said Los Angeles reliever Terry Forster, a former Chicago teammate. 'We played together for years and we talked all the time. This is very sad. At the time we were playing he had his whole career ahead of him.'
'We were roomates together during his first year with the White Sox,' said outfielder Jorge Orta, also with the Dodgers now. 'The reason we roomed together was we played together in Mexico on the same team. I just can't believe it ... he was so young.'
