Broadcasting Legend Collapses Caray Held In Critical Condition After Restaurant Table Tips Over

Harry Caray - the beloved Chicago Cubs broadcaster known for his exuberant “Holy cow!” - collapsed at a nightclub while having a Valentine’s Day dinner with his wife.

Caray, 78, was listed in critical but stable condition Sunday at Eisenhower Medical Center. Hospital spokesman Jim Ellis said Caray’s wife, Dutchie, asked that no further details be released.

Caray’s stepdaughter, Tunie Wells, said doctors said he definitely did not have a stroke.

Dutchie Caray told WGN radio, the Cubs’ flagship station, that her husband collapsed Saturday night after he leaned on a table that gave way. Wells told Chicago radio station WMAQ that Caray put his hand on the table when he stood to acknowledge the crowd after someone pointed out he was in the restaurant.

“He simply put his hand on the table, probably just for balance … and the table was not secured, and it came up and knocked him,” she said.

“I do not believe that he suffered a heart attack and fell. I believe he fell and if his heartbeat stopped it was because of the trauma to the head.”

Caray’s son-in-law, Coley Newell, told The Associated Press by telephone from his home in Mundelein, Ill., that Caray was still unconscious but was breathing on his own.

“The feeling amongst the family is that there’s no grave concern yet” because he is stable, Newell said. He said family members are hopeful Caray will survive. “Anybody that knows Harry knows how tough he is.”

Newell said a neurosurgeon would be attending to Caray.

Caray and his wife have a home in neighboring Palm Springs during the offseason.

A report of Caray’s collapse was first confirmed by nightclub general manager Peter Marin and Ron Marino, a former scout for the Kansas City Royals who knows Caray.

“Everybody was stunned,” Marino said. “It took awhile for the paramedics to get there. They worked on him for a long time, but there were no signs of life.”

Paramedics said they took a man in full cardiac arrest from the Basin Street West nightclub to Eisenhower Medical Center at about 10:10 p.m. However, hospital officials would not confirm Caray was that person.

“We had about seven ambulances come in here about the same time, and four were cardiac arrest cases,” Ellis said.

Caray had a stroke in 1987 and cut back his broadcasting last year.

After every Cubs victory he hollered “Cubs win! Cubs win!” During every seventh-inning stretch at Wrigley Field he led fans in singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”

Caray, a broadcaster for 53 years, is in the Baseball Hall of Fame.