Hudler Stable After Suffering an Aneurysm

Former major league infielder Rex Hudler, whose boundless energy and enthusiasm now fill Angel television broadcasts, was in stable condition Sunday after suffering a life-threatening ruptured aneurysm and bleeding at the base of the brain Saturday.

Hudler, in town to provide color commentary for the Angel-Athletic game Sunday, began experiencing severe headaches in his hotel room Saturday, symptoms that were eerily similar to Kent Mercker’s when the former Angel pitcher suffered a cerebral hemorrhage on the Edison Field mound last May 11.

Hudler called paramedics, who took him to a Bay Area hospital. Preliminary tests found bleeding in the brain, and more extensive tests found the cause to be a ruptured aneurysm. Doctors were performing additional tests Sunday to determine whether brain surgery is necessary.

Hudler, 40, is lucky to be alive. According to doctors, 80% of non-trauma-related cerebral hemorrhages are caused by aneurysms, and of those patients, roughly half die.

But Hudler, who played three seasons (1994-96) with the Angels, was resting comfortably Sunday and was able to speak and move his limbs. Broadcast partner Steve Physioc visited him in the hospital Saturday night, spoke to him Sunday morning and said Hudler was upbeat.

“For a guy who was on morphine, he responded really well,” Physioc said. “He was in great spirits. He was funny. Not only was he calm, his wife [Jennifer] was calm.”

Hudler wasn’t calm earlier Saturday.

“The pain from the headaches was so incredible, he was crying,” Physioc said. “It was just like Mercker.”

Mercker spent almost two weeks in the hospital after his hemorrhage, the cause of which was never determined.

In his case, a blood vessel in his brain burst and disintegrated. But after a two-month absence, Mercker returned to the Angels and pitched last August.

It was not known Sunday how long Hudler will remain hospitalized. At the family’s request, the name of the hospital was not disclosed.

Hudler joined the broadcast booth after retiring from baseball in 1998. He hit .261 with 56 home runs and 156 runs batted in during a 13-year big league career that highlighted a 21-year professional career in which he played for 18 teams, including a 1993 stint in Japan.

Hudler began his broadcasting career as a special correspondent for “Good Morning America” during the 1997 playoffs and World Series and the 1998 Super Bowl. Former Angel pitcher Mark Langston, one of Hudler’s best friends, replaced Hudler in the television booth Sunday.