Major League Baseball

Diamondbacks hitting coach Baylor returns to team

Published Oct. 1, 2011 6:24 p.m. ET

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Arizona Diamondbacks hitting coach Don Baylor rejoined the team Saturday, returning a day after a fainting spell he blamed on a bad reaction to medicine he was taking for back spasms.

Baylor was released from the hospital early Saturday morning. He was with the Diamondbacks for Game 1 of the NL division series against Milwaukee.

Baylor fainted in the clubhouse on Friday, and said it was a scary incident.

''I had a reaction to medication for my back. The next thing that I know it was six o'clock in the evening,'' Baylor said. ''I got a nice sleep out of it, though. That's good. I haven't had that in a while. I'm good.''

Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson said the 62-year-old Baylor resumed his normal duties, including holding regular team meetings with the hitters before Arizona took on the Brewers.

''We're trying to make sure he's OK. He's acting like, 'Come on,''' Gibson said. ''We're happy to see him in great spirits today.''

Baylor fainted after eating breakfast in the clubhouse, and one of the team's trainers caught him as he fell. Baylor hadn't shown any signs that he was feeling ill, either at a team dinner on Thursday night or Friday morning.

''I remember having breakfast. That's it,'' Baylor said.

Baylor was taken by ambulance to the hospital, where he spent Friday night for observation, and doctors released him when he requested to be let go at 8 a.m. He doesn't anticipate any other problems with the medication because he's not planning on taking it again.

''I threw it in the garbage,'' Baylor said.

Baylor, who played 19 seasons in the major leagues and was the 1979 AL MVP with the California Angels, joined Gibson's staff in the offseason.

After managing the Chicago Cubs from 2000 to 2002, Baylor spent time on the coaching staffs of the New York Mets, Seattle Mariners and Colorado Rockies. Baylor managed the Rockies from 1993 to 1998.

Baylor was treated for bone marrow cancer, known as multiple myeloma, in 2003.

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