MLB legend Manny Mota is recovering in hospital after suffering a stroke on Monday night, the Los Angeles Dodgers have revealed.
The 87-year-old played for the San Francisco Giants, Pittsburgh Pirates, Montreal Expos and the Dodgers during a two-decade-long playing career.
The Dominican then coached the Dodgers for 35 years, winning the World Series in 1981 and 1988. No one has spent longer as a coach for Los Angeles.
In total, Mota has spent the last 56 years with the Dodgers, also serving as a broadcaster and working with the veterans group that acts as a bridge between the team and the community.
‘Last night, Dodger legend Manny Mota suffered a stroke,’ Los Angeles posted on Tuesday. ‘He is in recovery, where he is responsive to commands and is resting comfortably.’
As of Tuesday morning, according to MLB insider Hector Gomez, Mota was in stable condition in a Los Angeles hospital.
MLB legend Manny Mota is recovering in hospital after suffering a stroke on Monday night
The 87-year-old spent more than five decades as part of the Los Angeles Dodgers organization
The baseball legend is pictured alongside the current Dodgers manager Dave Roberts
‘Dad never lost consciousness during the incident and is currently doing well,’ his son, player-turned-broadcaster Jose Mota, told ESPN Deportes.
In 2023, Mota was inducted into the ‘Legends of Dodger Baseball’, in recognition of his five decades with the organization.
He served Los Angeles as a player between 1969 and 1980 – before returning for one game in 1982. Mota retired as baseball’s then all-time pinch-hit leader with 150.
He initially ended his playing career in 1980 before working as the Dodgers’ first base coach and batting instructor. But in 1982, he returned to the mound for one game, his 816th with the Dodgers.
Mota has also been inducted into the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum and the Latino Baseball Hall of Fame.
Meanwhile, the Manny Mota International Foundation – the non-profit founded by the MLB legend and his wife Margarita – has raised funds for underprivileged families in the Dominican Republic.
