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Bill "Spaceman" Lee is still playing baseball at age 75, but the former Boston Red Sox pitcher had a health scare Friday night in Georgia.
Lee collapsed in the bullpen while warming up to pitch in an exhibition game with the Savannah Bananas, a collegiate summer league team that entertains fans with a Harlem Globetrotters-esque style of play.
Lee walked off the field with assistance and was taken to a local hospital for treatment, team president Jared Orton told The Associated Press.
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SIGN UP HERE The Red Sox Hall of Famer, who was back with the Bananas after joining the team for a series of exhibition games this spring, collapsed in the right-field bullpen during the fourth inning.
"(Lee) threw a perfect changeup for a strike. I threw the ball back to him," Bananas teammate Mat Wolf told the Savannah Morning News. "He literally went down, just out of nowhere; right when he caught it, he went straight backward."
There's no further update on Lee's condition, but Bananas owner Jesse Cole told ESPN in a postgame interview that Lee was responsive as he exited the field.
Lee spent 10 of his 14 major league seasons with the Red Sox, compiling a 94-68 record in Boston with a 3.62 ERA over nearly 2,000 innings. The colorful left-hander was a popular player in Boston, earning the nickname "Spaceman" thanks in part to his free-spirited nature.
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He was inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2008.
