Former Boston Red Sox star Bill Lee collapsed in the bullpen while warming up for a Savannah Bananas exhibition game Friday night, but the 75-year-old pitcher was helped off the field.
“He was able to leave the stadium with medical attention and was taken to a local hospital,” team president Jared Orton said in an email to The Associated Press.
Lee, a member of the Red Sox Hall of Fame, was at right field when the episode occurred.
Lee had stopped breathing after collapsing, but paramedics and two shocks with a defibrillator helped revive him, according to a witness at the scene.
“Without immediate intervention, I don’t believe he would be here today,” Town of Thunderbolt Administrator Bob Milie told The Associated Press on Saturday.
“He wasn’t breathing,” said Milie, who is also a firefighter in the Georgia town a few miles from Savannah. “It was very, very terrible.”
Bananas manager Eric Byrnes tweeted a photo of himself with Lee at Memorial Health University Medical Center on Saturday.
One of Lee’s daughters arrived in town and was at the hospital with him, team president Jared Orton said.
“She said he’s in good spirits and continues to be evaluated for next steps in recovery, but he’s certainly acting like he is,” Orton said in an email to the AP.
Orton said a member of the Bananas’ front office stayed with Lee at the hospital after midnight.
Milie was at Grayson Stadium to watch the Bananas, a fun team known for its bright yellow uniform and clown antics on and off the field. The game against the Party Animals was on ESPN2.
Lee, affectionately called “Spaceman” for his no-nonsense approach during his days with the Red Sox and Montreal Expos, had previously pitched for the Bananas. When he went down Friday night, some people at the ballpark thought for a moment that he might have been part of their team’s “Bananas Ball” act.
“You never know with bananas. It was like ‘is this… Wait, that’s definitely not part of the show,’” Milie said.
Milie, who was not part of the team that treated Lee, praised all the EMTs, police, firefighters and rescue personnel at the scene for their quick action.
Milie said Lee was shocked twice with the defibrillator on the field.
“The second one, which seemed to do the trick, was heart palpitations,” he said.
Lee was able to be helped off the field and the game later resumed.
In 14 seasons with Boston and Montreal, Lee went 119–90. An All-Star in 1973, the left-hander helped lead the Red Sox to the 1975 World Series and started Game 7 against Cincinnati. Lee exited in the seventh inning and Boston later lost to Cincinnati 4–3.
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