ST. LOUIS -- David Green, an outfielder on the St. Louis Cardinals' 1982 World Series champions, has died. He was 61.

Green had been hospitalized in suburban St. Louis after choking at his home about a week ago and died Saturday of respiratory failure, his family told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The Cardinals confirmed the death Tuesday on Twitter.

Green signed with the Milwaukee Brewers in 1978 as a 17-year-old out of Nicaragua. He was part of a trade in December 1980 in which the Cardinals sent Rollie Fingers, Ted Simmons and Pete Vuckovich to the Brewers for Green, outfielder Sixto Lezcano and pitchers Dave LaPoint and Lary Sorensen.

Green hit .283 as a part-time player on the 1982 team that beat the Brewers in seven games in the World Series. He was traded to San Francisco after the 1984 season in a deal that brought Jack Clark to St. Louis. Clark was a key player on pennant-winning teams in 1985 and 1987.

After playing for the Giants in 1985, Green played in Japan and Mexico in 1986 before ending his major league career with 14 games back with the Cardinals in 1987.