Tormented by the memory of one pitch and despondent over his failing career and marital troubles, former California Angels pitcher Donnie Moore shot his wife numerous times before killing himself.
"All indications are that Donnie Moore and his wife, Tonya, became involved in an argument, and during the argument, Mr. Moore produced a handgun, shot his estranged wife and then turned the gun on himself," Anaheim Police Lt. Marc Hedgpeth said.Tonya Moore, 35, was in critical condition early today suffering from at least three gunshot wounds in the upper chest and stomach, Hedgpeth said after the shooting Tuesday afternoon at the couple's home in the affluent Peralta Hills area of Anaheim.
Their 17-year-old daughter drove her wounded mother to nearby Kaiser Permanente Hospital. The couple's two sons, ages 7 and 10, also were at the house during the shooting, but none of the children were hurt.
The 35-year-old Moore was released last month by the Kansas City Royals' minor league team in Omaha. He had been plagued by injuries during his last years in the majors and saw yet another comeback attempt dissolve when he was released by the Royals' organization.
He also had separated from his wife of 16 years about a month ago, said Moore's New York-based agent, Dave Pinter.
Moore was released from the Angels in 1988, two years after he carried California to within one strike of the 1986 World Series, a loss that tortured him through the years.
With the Angels ahead three games to one in the best-of-seven American League playoffs, Moore, pitching with a sore right shoulder, had a 5-4 lead, with two outs and two strikes on Boston's Dave Henderson in the top of the ninth inning of Game 5. But Henderson then hit a Moore forkball for a two-run homer that gave the Red Sox a 6-5 lead.
The Angels sent the game into extra innings, and once again Henderson victimized Moore, with a sacrifice fly in the top of the 11th that lifted the Red Sox to a 7-6 victory.
The Red Sox won the next two games in Boston and moved into the World Series, which they lost to the New York Mets.
"Everything revolved around one . . . pitch," California veteran Brian Downing said in a somber Angel clubhouse in Toronto, where the players heard of their former teammate's death after their 1-0 victory over the Blue Jays.
"You (to reporters) destroyed a man's life over one pitch. The guy was just not the same after that," Downing said. "I never ever saw the guy be credited for getting us to the playoffs because all you ever heard about, all you ever read about, was one pitch."
Pinter also said Moore was haunted by the pitch.
"Ever since Henderson's home run, he was extremely depressed," Pinter said. "He blamed himself for the Angels not going to the World Series.