Frank Robinson released from hospital

Frank Robinson released from hospital

Frank Robinson released from hospital
PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz. -- Hall of Famer Frank Robinson was out of Scottsdale Memorial Hospital on Thursday after his heart rate accelerated, causing dizziness and shortness of breath. He returned to The Sanctuary Resort where Major League Baseball staged this week's owners meetings.

Robinson, 75, passed through a battery of tests that included checking for blood clots and was deemed healthy enough to be released, he said, although he will seek a follow up when he returns home to Los Angeles. Robinson began feeling the symptoms early in the morning joint meeting that included the owners and general managers.

"The doctor said I was a little dry -- not dehydrated -- and my heart rate was 190 [beats per minute]," Robinson said. "I began getting concerned sitting there when my heart started to beat faster. I thought it was kind of temporary and I tried to wait it out, but it just kept going and going. Finally I just decided to get out of there and have it checked. And I'm glad I did."

A normal male heart rate is 60-80 beats per minute. Robinson said his accelerated heart rate lasted for about 30 minutes before he sought medical attention.

Looking no worse for the wear, Robinson, a senior vice president of Major League operations, said he felt fine. It was the first time he had experienced such a sensation and doctors could find no reason for it.

Robinson became dizzy and was quietly removed from the room. An ambulance and the local fire department were promptly called. The ambulance took him immediately to the emergency room at the hospital.

"It really shook me up badly," said Commissioner Bud Selig, 76 and a close friend of Robinson. "Frank and I have worked very closely together the last couple of years. I have enormous respect for him as a person and a friend. He's done a lot of good work for us, and frankly, for me personally."

Robinson had a 22-season big league playing career and was the first African-American to manage in the Major Leagues when the Indians hired him as a player-manager in 1975. He eventually had a 16-year managerial career for four teams, including the Giants, Orioles and Expos/Nationals. Robinson has had two stints in the Commissioner's Office and rejoined it after leaving the Nationals in 2006.

The slugging outfielder batted .294 and is ninth on the all-time list with 586 homers.

Robinson is a member of Selig's 14-man special committee reviewing any changes to baseball on the field. Upon his return to the hotel he sat in on the last 45 minutes of Thursday's three-hour meeting of that group, which began at noon MT.

Robinson said he didn't push the doctors to release him from the hospital early.

"They gave me a full check up today and they wouldn't have let me out unless they gave me a clean bill of health," Robinson said. "When the big motor starts ticking wrong, then you leave it up to the doctors. If they had said stay then I would've stayed."
