OFF THE WALL

‘Spaceman’ has incident while warming up at 75

Former major leaguer Bill Lee had stopped breathing after collapsing in the bullpen during an exhibition game, but paramedics and two shocks with a defibrillator helped resuscitate the 75-year-old pitcher, a witness at the scene told Ben Walker of The Associated Press.

“Without immediate intervention, I do not believe he’d be here today,” Town of Thunderbolt Administrator Bob Milie told AP on Saturday, a day after the episode during a game for the popular Savannah Bananas.

“He wasn’t breathing,” said Milie, who’s also a firefighter in the Georgia town a few miles from Savannah. “It was very, very dire.”

Bananas manager Eric Byrnes posted a picture to Twitter of himself with Lee — a member of the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame — 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 is certainly acting like himself,” Orton said in an email to the AP.

Orton said a member of the Bananas’ front office stayed with Lee at the hospital past midnight.

Milie was at Grayson Stadium to see the Bananas, an entertaining team known for its bright yellow uniform and its clowning antics on and off the field. The game against the Party Animals was on ESPN2.

Lee, fondly nicked “Spaceman” for his irreverent 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 in the ballpark thought for an instant that it might’ve been part of their team’s “Bananas Ball” act.

In 14 seasons with Boston and Montreal, Lee went 119-90.

Trivia question Since 1960, two pitchers have had 20-game winning streaks. Who are they? They said it

From Dwight Perry of The Seattle Times: “The Trail Blazers will not send their TV or radio broadcasters on road trips, instead having them announce games from home. There you have it — the NBA season’s first non-traveling call.”

From David Whitley of the Gainesville (Fla.) Sun, on the Pirates’ Rodolfo Castro having his cellphone fly out of his back pocket while sliding into third: “It was the most embarrassing MLB moment since a 24-ounce vial of Dianabol and six syringes fell out Barry Bonds’ pocket as he beat out an infield single in 2002.”

From Janice Hough of Leftcoastsportsbabe.com, after 38-year-old Packers QB Aaron Rodgers ripped the team’s young receivers for dropped passes and bad route-running: “How long until he screams at them to get off his lawn?”

Trivia answer

Gerrit Cole won 20 straight in 2019-20, the first year with the Astros and the final six games after he signed a $324 million contract with the Yanks. Jake Arrieta won 20 straight from 2015-16 while with the Cubs. Before 1960, two pitchers had even longer streaks. Carl Hubbell won 24 straight from 1936-37 with the New York Giants. Roy Face won 22 straight (1958-59) with the Pirates. He was the only one of the four who did it as a reliever.