Los Angeles Dodgers legend Manny Mota is in recovery in a Los Angeles-area hospital after he suffered a stroke Monday.
“(Mota) is responsive to commands and is resting comfortably,” the Dodgers wrote in a social media post Tuesday.
Mota, 87, played 20 MLB seasons and was best known for his 13 seasons with the Dodgers, with the last five of those primarily as a pinch hitter. During his last two seasons as a regular position player, he finished 23rd in National League MVP voting in 1972 and was an NL All-Star in 1973.
At the time of his retirement, following one at-bat in 1982, Mota held the MLB record for pinch hits with 149, a total that has been passed by Mike Sweeney and Lenny Harris.
Mota’s .313 career batting average with the Dodgers is second best in franchise history (minimum 1,800 at-bats) since 1958, when the team moved to Los Angeles, to Mike Piazza’s .331 mark.
In his 20 seasons with the Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Francisco Giants and Montreal Expos from 1962-82, Mota was a career .304 hitter with 31 home runs and 438 RBIs. He went on to become a Dodgers coach for 34 seasons from 1980-2013.
