John Kruk Taken From ESPN Red Sox Dodgers Game On Stretcher
ESPN baseball analyst John Kruk left tonight’s marquee game at Dodgers Stadium on a stretcher.
Kruk was apparently getting ready in the broadcast booth with Dan Shulman and Curt Shilling for ESPN Sunday Night Baseball when he became ill. Schilling is sitting in for Orel Hershiser who was in Pennsylvania today covering the Little League World Series which was won by Japan.
Shulman opened the broadcast by revealing that Kruk was a little under the weather. The Dodgers are playing the Boston Red Sox tonight in a nationally broadcast an inter-league matchup. Kruk’s health issue apparently was first revealed by Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe.
According to ESPN, “John left the booth feeling dizzy and was diagnosed as being dehydrated. His vital signs are stable and he’s in good spirits. We wish him a speedy recovery.”
Last December, Kruk, 52, was promoted from studio analyst to the Sunday Night Baseball team after Terry Francona left the booth to become manager of the Cleveland Indians. Kruk has been a member of ESPN’s MLB studio team since 2004.
Kruk played 10 years in the big leagues and finished his career as a.300 batter with 100 home runs and 592 RBI. He broke in with the San Diego Padres in 1986, was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies 1989, and finished his career with the Chicago White Sox in 1995. The outfielder/first baseman was a three-time MLB All Star with the Phillies and was a member of the Phillies 1993 World Series team.
A series of tweets from Jimmy Bramlett of LAist.com indicates that Kruk was conscious and responsive and “that he was drinking tons of water as he was being wheeled out on a stretcher.” The stretcher may have been in fact a wheelchair instead, however.
ESPN's John Kruk was just taken from the press box at Dodger Stadium on a stretcher. He was conscious.
— Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) August 25, 2013
