He died of what appeared to be a self-inflicted shotgun wound, Shannon Hartley, a spokesman for the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, wrote in an e-mail on Sunday.

Freel, who played second base, third base and all three outfield positions, spent six of his eight big-league seasons with the Cincinnati Reds and finished his career in 2009 with a .268 average and 143 stolen bases.

He thrilled fans with his all-out style, yet it took a toll. During his playing days, he once estimated that he had sustained up to 10 concussions. He missed 30 games in 2007 after a collision with a teammate caused a concussion.

Freel showed no fear as he ran into walls, hurtled into the seats and crashed into other players while trying to make catches. His jarring, diving grabs often made the highlight shows, and he was praised by those he played both with and against for always having a dirt-stained uniform.

Ryan Paul Freel was born March 8, 1976, in Jacksonville. Selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 10th round of the 1995 amateur draft out of Tallahassee Community College, he made his big-league debut in April 2001 with the Blue Jays.

He spent all of 2002 with Tampa Bay's Class AAA farm team, signed a minor league deal with the Reds that November and made it back to the majors the next April.

He stayed with the Reds through 2008, when a torn tendon in his right hamstring caused him to miss the final 103 games of the season. He was traded to Baltimore that December and split the 2009 season among the Orioles, the Chicago Cubs and the Kansas City Royals.

Freel had consecutive seasons of 37, 36 and 37 steals from 2004 to 2006 but started to slow the next year. He was in center field when he collided with right fielder Norris Hopper's elbow on May 28, 2007, an injury that caused Freel to be taken off the field in an ambulance. He sustained a concussion that caused headaches and an impaired memory, and he did not return until early July. He had season-ending knee surgery in August.

He sustained another head injury that put him back on the disabled list when he was hit by a pickoff throw to second base from Boston pitcher Justin Masterson at Fenway Park on April 20, 2009.

Freel also had trouble related to alcohol. He pleaded guilty to drunken driving in Kentucky in 2005. The next year, he was charged with disorderly intoxication, a misdemeanor, in a pool hall in Tampa, Fla. Prosecutors settled the case by having Freel do community service.