White Sox reliever Danny Farquhar was in critical but stable condition Sunday, a day after undergoing surgery to relieve swelling on his brain after suffering a brain hemorrhage while in the dugout during a game.
White Sox vice president Ken Williams told USA Today Sports that Farquhar remained Sunday in the neurosurgical ICU unit at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago and was being monitored by neurosurgeons after undergoing a complicated procedure Saturday night.
"He's a fighter, and he's in the fight of his life right now,'' Williams told the paper. "They had to do another surgery, cracking his skull open, and putting a clamp on it. My God.
"This certainly shows the fragility of life and how we take every day for granted. And it can change in a heartbeat. Literally."
Farquhar passed out in the sixth inning Friday night after getting two outs against Houston. He was helped by team medical personnel and on-site EMTs and regained consciousness before he was taken to a hospital by ambulance.
Williams said Farquhar, 31, will remain in the hospital for at least the next three weeks.
"His wife and mother were at the game that night, and by the time they got to the clubhouse, he was already in an ambulance heading to the hospital," Williams said. "Can you imagine what they went through, and are still going through?''
Farquhar's longtime agent, Sohail Shahpar, told the paper Farquhar's family remained by his side Sunday in the hospital's cardiac care unit.
"You just can't imagine this happening,'' Shahpar said, "not to a baseball player in the middle of the game. As a baseball player, you have Tommy John surgery, guys blowing out their arms or knees. Guys taking line drives off their body or even head. But this?"
Farquhar was selected by Toronto in the 10th round of the 2008 draft and made his major league debut with the Blue Jays in 2011. The right-hander is 10-15 with a 3.93 ERA in 253 career relief appearances with Toronto, Seattle, Tampa Bay and Chicago.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.