“May love heal him”: Bill Lee a.k.a. MLB’s Spaceman loses consciousness in the bullpen, walks-off the field with help

“May love heal him”: Bill Lee a.k.a. MLB’s Spaceman loses consciousness in the bullpen, walks-off the field with help

Bill Lee

Former Major League Baseball pitcher Bill Lee also known as the Spaceman was taken to a Georgia hospital after he collapsed in the bullpen while warming up to pitch for the Savannah Bananas in an exhibition game Friday night. Bill Lee was inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame as the team’s record-holder for most games pitched by a left-hander.

For the comfort of the fans, the 75-year-old pitcher walked off the field with assistance. The scene looked very critical; a firefighter who was in the right-field stands during the Savannah Banana Ball game against the Party Animals at Grayson Stadium helped out Bill Lee as he was taken to the hospital.

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“I would say without immediate intervention, that person would not be alive right now,” said Town of Thunderbolt Administrator Bob Millie, the firefighter. “He had a cardiac episode that stopped his breathing. That only ends one way normally, but their direct involvement saved his life.”

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“He was able to leave the stadium with medical attention and was taken to a local hospital,” Bananas president Jared Orton told the Associated Press.

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Bill Lee collapsed in the bullpen while warming up

Bill Lee
Bill Lee

Bill Lee is known for his counterculture behavior, his antics both on and off the field, and his use of the “Leephus pitch“, a personalized variation of the eephus pitch. He has established himself outside the baseball world too, he has co-written four books –

  • The Wrong Stuff; Have Glove, Will Travel
  • The Little Red (Sox) Book
  • A Revisionist Red Sox History
  • Baseball Eccentrics: The Most Entertaining, Outrageous, and Unforgettable Characters in the Game.

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Bill Lee has pitched for the Bananas, a popular club known for its bright yellow uniforms and entertaining antics on and off the field. There is another version of the Bananas in the Coastal Plain League, a college summer league.

“Originally we thought it was part of the show,” Heather Fain said. “Once we realized it wasn’t, we went down there to help.”

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