Knapp OK after passing out on plane - 7/27/09

Knapp OK after passing out on plane
BECK'S BLOG
Posted on July 27, 2009 at 9:55 PM

Tigers pitching coach Rick Knapp was back at work for Monday's series opener against the Rangers, but his trip to Texas was still the talk of the clubhouse after a frightening incident on the team flight.

Knapp passed out after trying to enter the restroom on the team plane, and briefly lost consciousness before head athletic trainer Kevin Rand and their staff scrambled to his aid to awaken him. An ambulance met the plane upon landing quickly at Love Field and took Knapp to a local hospital, where he stayed briefly before being released early Monday morning. The rest of the Tigers arrived at the team hotel around 2:30 a.m.

The Tigers were less than a half-hour away from Dallas when the incident happened, so emergency landing was necessary.

Knapp said he had been feeling ill before the flight and felt worse after he ate something. He also had taken Tamiflu, prescribed to all team personnel on the trip after Rangers pitcher Vicente Padilla tested positive for H1N1 Type A influenza, commonly known as swine flu.

No official diagnosis was given for what was behind Knapp's blackout, but a heart attack or stroke were quickly ruled out. Follow-up tests showed no cause for further concern.

Knapp resumed his normal duties Monday, albeit on short rest. He was more embarrassed about the incident than anything.

Still, that embarrassment couldn't match the concern on the part of the Tigers as they watched Rand and others trying to revive him as the plane rushed to land.

"A lot of players were upset, scared," Leyland said.

Said reliever Bobby Seay: "It was just pandemonium there for a minute. You don't know what was going on."