Christian radio show host and former Major League Baseball pitcher Frank Pastore died Monday from complications after a November motorcycle accident.
The death came nearly a month after the Nov. 19 crash on Interstate 210, the Foothill Freeway, in Duarte. The accident occurred as Pastore, 55, was on his way home from his daily radio show at the studios of KKLA 99.5 FM in Glendale.
Officials at KKLA, which announced Pastore’s passing on its website, could not be reached for comment late Monday.
A brief and prophetic audio clip from Pastore’s final show accompanied the death notice.<br /"You guys know I ride a motorcycle, right? So at any moment … I could be spread all over the 210," Pastore said. "But that's not me. That's my body parts."
Pastore said that his religious faith left him with no doubts his soul would live on after physical death.
“I just lost my beautiful husband,” Pastore’s wife, Gina, said. “But it’s comforting to know he’s home with the Lord now.”
Gina didn’t mourn alone Monday. KKLA was inundated with callers expressing their grief.
“People are calling in and crying and mourning with us,” she said. “I want to thank so many people for their outpouring of love and support. “That’s really helped to sustain our family during this difficult time.”
Condolences and tributes also flooded the Internet in the hours after news of Pastore’s death broke.
Among those acknowledging the passing was national radio and television personality Hugh Hewitt.
“My friend and radio colleague Frank Pastore has died,” Hewitt posted in his Twitter account. “He was a terrific man, a great broadcaster and a wonderful husband and dad, RIP.”
Pastore had been in a coma since the accident and had been recently transferred to a hospital in Upland from Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center’s intensive care unit, hospital spokeswoman Rosa Saca said.
A CHP investigation concluded that the crash was an accident, and nothing criminal such as impaired driving was suspected, CHP Officer William Bury said. The driver who hit Pastore was neither arrested nor cited.
On KKLA’s website, the radio station asked listeners to “Please continue to pray for Gina and the family.”
In addition to his wife, Pastore is survived by son Frank Jr. and daughter Christina.
The Upland resident played baseball at Damien High School in La Verne, from which he graduated in 1975. In the major leagues, he pitched for the Cincinnati Reds from 1979 to 1985 and the Minnesota Twins in 1986. He then played one season for the Texas Rangers’ AA affiliate the Oklahoma City 89ers before retiring from baseball.
Pastore graduated from BIOLA University in La Mirada in 1994 and from Claremont Graduate School in 2003.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
