Former Arizona Diamondbacks Jason Conti Has Died at Age 50 — Cause of Death Revealed
Jason Conti was an all-around good guy.
Published June 3 2025, 11:05 a.m. ET
In a moving Instagram post from May 15, 2025, former Pittsburgh Pirate Kevin Kramer shared devastating news about his friend Jason Conti. The 50-year-old was in the hospital, and Kevin wanted Jason's friends and fans to know that he wasn't going to last the weekend. Kevin and Jason had been in each other's lives since college, where they played baseball together. The two ended up in the majors, though they played on different teams.
According to Arizona Sports, Jason began his career with the Arizona Diamondbacks when the franchise was just starting out in 1996. He made his debut four years later but was traded for pitcher Albie Lopez and catcher Mike DiFelice in 2001, when the Diamondbacks won the World Series. Jason bounced around a bit more before finally retiring from the prod circuit in 2007. Two decades later, he has sadly died. Here's what we know about his cause of death.
Here's what we know about Jason Conti's cause of death.
Jason suffered a "severe brain injury" and was on life support when Kevin broke the sad news via Instagram. In another post, Kevin shared that Jason died on May 17 and was devastated by the news. He went on to say that his friend loved Pearl Jam and used lyrics from the song "Given to Fly" in his emails. "He will be remembered as a champion at every level," wrote Kevin.
After his baseball career ended, Jason turned to his other love: cooking. He took cooking classes at Arizona State and worked as a chef at Alo Cafe in Scottsdale, chef/kitchen manager at Americana Tempe, and as a chef at The Craftsman Cocktails & Kitchen in Tempe, per Sports Illustrated.
Following the announcement of Jason's death, the Arizona Diamondbacks released a statement on X saying they were "deeply saddened by his passing." Scott Carter, who covers all things Florida Gators, said that Jason had his best MLB season in 2002." He was just a nice guy, no big-league ego," wrote Scott on X. " Played at Pitt. See he passed away at 50. Sad news. Hadn't thought of him in long time, but remember him well."