Former Phillies manager Jim Fregosi died Friday morning. You got that news a little early if you follow WTXF-TV/WIP-FM personality Howard Eskin:
Former Manager Jim Fregosi dies at 71. Had suffered a massive stroke while on a cruise is last 36 hours.
— Howard Eskin (@howardeskin) February 14, 2014
Eskin followed his tweet, sent at 7:10 p.m. Thursday night, with a mea culpa 28 minutes later:
Former manager Jim Fregosi has been taken off support, but has not died. Info I got was pre mature and I apologize. He hangs on but very bad
— Howard Eskin (@howardeskin) February 14, 2014
But by that time the report had been picked up by at least one other outlet, Philadelphia magazine. “And that’s the last time we trust Howard Eskin’s reporting,” Joel Mathis writes in an update at the top of his post.
Eskin rallied later that night, and was able to send some tweets saluting Sports Illustrated’s new Swimsuit Issue.
Get ready the Anniversary Issue of Sports Illustrated. This a great cover. http://t.co/UNJgfGi2Pl
— Howard Eskin (@howardeskin) February 14, 2014
50th Anniversary SI Swimsuit Cover pic.twitter.com/InIslz8uka
— Howard Eskin (@howardeskin) February 14, 2014