Frank Viola to have heart surgery next week

By foxsports
Published

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.