Pirates Guest Has Cardiac Event While Shagging Balls During BP, Requires CPR

A Pittsburgh Pirates spring training guest who was shagging balls during batting practice reportedly suffered a cardiac event and needed CPR.

Jason Mackey, a Pirates beat writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that someone had collapsed in the outfield of Roberto Clemente Field at the team's Pirate City spring training complex in Bradenton, Florida.

Details about what transpired were scarce at first but eventually started to trickle out.

Mackey reported that the incident began around 11:10 on Tuesday morning while the Pirates were taking practice. At that time, a still unidentified "older man" collapsed on the field. Music and workouts happening at the time came to a halt, and Pirates personnel rushed to his aid. Those rushing to assist were Pirates medical director Dr. Patrick DeMeo and director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk.

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Dr. DeMeo performed CPR on the man while first responders rushed to the scene. Fans in attendance reportedly applauded when the man was put on a stretcher and placed in the back of the ambulance.

As previously mentioned, the man's identity has yet to be released, though the organization confirmed that he was a guest of the team

Once the man was on his way to the hospital for treatment, Mackey wrote that players and personnel were noticeably emotional after the scary situation. He reported that Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen could be seen giving Dr. DeMeo a pat before he returned to the batting cages.

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, it's common for the Pirates to host guests at spring training. Tuesday morning, the group of guests included people from the Manatee Chamber of Commerce.

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