Sparks suffers heart attack
Astros radio color analyst Steve Sparks is recovering at his home after suffering a heart attack last week.
According to a Facebook post from his wife, Michelle, the 54-year-old Sparks collapsed at Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital on Dec. 11 and required CPR. Doctors discovered his left main artery was “fully blocked,” the post said, and Sparks received a stent to alleviate it.
Before he was stricken, Sparks hit golf balls and worked out. According to his wife, began sweating profusely and vomited upon returning home. She took him to the hospital where he eventually collapsed.
“We are pleased to report that Astros radio broadcaster Steve Sparks is now home resting comfortably,” the Astros said in a statement. “Sparky received outstanding care from his wife, Michelle, and the medical staff at Methodist that tended to him. Sparky, who is a special member of our Astros family, is expecting a full recovery. We look forward to welcoming him back to the booth this spring.”
Sparks returned home on Saturday. Reached on Sunday via text message, Sparks said he is “feeling better by the hour” and “very grateful.”
A knuckleballer who threw for five teams across nine major league seasons, Sparks worked alongside play-by-play man Robert Ford since 2013. Legions of Astros fans now know him only as “Sparky,” a man whose humor pairs perfectly with his inherent knowledge of pitching.
Sparks’ hilarious champagne clubhouse celebration interviews have become a staple of the team’s return to prominence.
That same demeanor has not disappeared this week.
“(My heart attack) could have stemmed from the enormity of (Gerrit) Cole’s contract,” Sparks wrote Sunday.