NEW YORK (AP) - The New York Mets say former pitcher Frank Viola will undergo heart surgery next week in New York.
The 53-year-old Viola retired as a player following the 1996 season. He was hired by the Mets in January as pitching coach of Triple-A Las Vegas of the Pacific Coast League.
New York said Tuesday that that during a spring training exam “Mets physicians discovered a heart condition that needed to be corrected as soon as possible.”
Viola was the 1988 AL Cy Young Award winner. He went 176-150 with a 3.73 ERA in 15 major league seasons with Minnesota (1982-89), the Mets (1989-91), Boston (1992-94), Cincinnati (1995) and Toronto (196).
His daughter Brittany was a diver on the U.S. team at the 2012 Olympics.
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