Chicago White Sox Danny Farquhar suffers brain aneurysm

CHICAGO, IL - APRIL 21: The jersey of Danny Farquhar
CHICAGO, IL - APRIL 21: The jersey of Danny Farquhar

It was a frightening few minutes when Danny Farquhar collapsed during the Chicago White Sox game on Friday. Answers are slowly starting to come in as to what happened.

Typically, all eyes are on the action on the field, but that was not the case during the Chicago White Sox game on Friday. In a frightening moment, reliever Danny Farquhar collapsed in the Chicago dugout. With help from team medical staff and EMTs, he was able to regain consciousness, and was taken to a nearby hospital for tests and to find out what happened.

After plenty of questions, and his teammates having to wonder if he would be fine, answers have begun to come out. Farquhar had suffered a ruptured aneurysm, resulting in the brain hemorrhage that led to his collapsing. He is currently in stable, but critical condition, and will undergo more monitoring and tests to help him recover.

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Prior to his collapse, Farquhar had been a decent piece in the White Sox bullpen. Although his 5.63 ERA is high, he had only allowed six hits in his eight innings of work. That high ERA is fueled by the three home runs he had allowed, but Farquhar had also struck out nine batters without issuing a walk. Those issues with the longball aside, he had been relatively solid for Chicago.

While it is still early in the process, and not much is truly known, this does not mean that Farquhar is facing the end of his career. John Olerud had suffered a brain aneurysm in college, but was still able to have a fine major league career, making two All Star Games and winning a batting title. Yes, he needed to take some precautions on the field, notably wearing a batting helmet at all times, but was able to enjoy success.

Perhaps Farquhar will need to have the same sort of similar situation to come back to the mound. Or, maybe he becomes one of the few users of that padded cap that gets brought up whenever a pitcher is struck by a line drive through the box. However, the potential of being struck by such a drive, especially to the head, may be enough to force him out of the game. No one wants to see another Ray Chapman style incident.

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Chicago White Sox reliever Danny Farquhar is in stable, albeit critical, condition, as doctors are working on making sure he will be healthy. Our thoughts are with him and his family.