Ryan Freel was just 36 years old when he took his own life yesterday.  According to Chad Cushnir of First Coast News, Freel died from an apparent suicide.  He leaves behind a child and a wife.

Freel played eight seasons in the Majors for five different teams.  In his career, Freel hit .268/.354/.369. He was a gritty player who always gave it his best.  He was likely instilling that same mentality in the players he coached at his organization Big League Development.

Freel battled concussions throughout his Major League career.  While there has been no reason reported for Freel's suicide, the NFL is concerned about the correlation between concussions and suicides in former players.  Major League Baseball may look into this as well.  For now, this is just a tragic story in which a family will be mourning the death of a loved one over the holidays.
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