VERO BEACH, Fla. — Clem Labine, a relief pitcher who threw two of baseball's most significant shutouts in his role as a part-time starter and pitched for two Dodgers World Series championship teams in the 1950s, died Friday. He was 80.

Labine had been in a coma at Indian River Medical Center in Vero Beach for more than a week following brain surgery to explore a mass in his head, the team announced, and hospital spokeswoman Kim Leach-Wright confirmed his death.

"He was not recognized the way he should have been. He was a great pitcher, but he was surrounded by too many stars," said Tommy Lasorda, the former Dodgers manager who was Labine's teammate. "He played the game the way it was supposed to be played. He gave it everything he had, he got along with everyone and everyone loved him."

Labine spent 13 seasons in the major leagues, mostly as a bullpen specialist with the Dodgers, first in Brooklyn and then in Los Angeles. He also pitched with Detroit, Pittsburgh, and the New York Mets.

He was signed by the Dodgers in 1946 almost by accident when a scheduled tryout with the Boston Braves fell through.

Labine came to Brooklyn in 1950, helped win the World Series in 1955, accompanied the Dodgers to Los Angeles in 1958 and was with the team when it won the Series in 1959. He was dealt to Detroit and then to Pittsburgh in 1960 and went 3-0 with a 1.48 ERA for the world champion Pirates.

After one more season with the Pirates, Labine was drafted by the expansion Mets in 1962. He appeared in just three games before retiring and returning to Rhode Island as a partner in a company that manufactured golf clothes and other sports wear.