‘Hawk’ was missed at White Sox’ fan convention

First, the good news about Ken “Hawk” Harrelson: He’s on the mend.

The bad news: Harrelson said he passed out Jan. 5 at his home in Orlando, Florida, and suffered a head injury from the resulting fall. He was hospitalized for 3½ days.

“I’ve had a tough go for a couple of weeks,” Harrelson, 78, said from his home Saturday. “I got up to turn off the TV, and the next thing I know I was in the hospital. I’ve been knocked out before, but I never passed out.”

High blood pressure was the cause. Harrelson stood up, felt dizzy, fell and suffered a gash on the back of his head that required 12 staples.

The blood pressure is stabilizing with medication, and on Saturday, Harrelson said he was feeling the best he has since the episode. He was in a good mood and sounded like his normal self.

“It’s been an experience,” Harrelson said with a chuckle. “You know, it seems like everything in my life has been an experience.”

SoxFest wasn’t the same without Hawk, who would have basked in the glow of his election to the Hall of Fame in December after winning the Ford C. Frick Award for excellence in broadcasting.

“Are you at SoxFest?” he asked. “I wanted to come so bad.”

But Harrelson’s doctors advised against flying because of his medication. He still has to be cautious when he stands up, but things are much improved.

This year also marks the eighth decade in baseball for Harrelson, an ambassador for the Sox. Others with such longevity include Vin Scully, Tommy Lasorda, Don Zimmer, Dave Garcia and Bob Uecker.

“It’s been a big year for me,” he said. “For my wife, Aris, as well, but especially for the grandkids.”

And of course there is the Frick Award. Harrelson’s induction will come the day before that of newly elected players Derek Jeter, Larry Walker and Ted Simmons (voted in by the modern baseball era committee).

“It’s starting to sink in now, it really is,” he said. “It’s bigger than I thought it was. There is a lot more meaning to it than I anticipated.”

At Bay Hill golf club, where Harrelson has spent much of his winter, people “are looking at [me] in a different way. It’s amazing.

“And the mail has been unbelievable. From all over the country, they’re sending baseballs [for autographs], I’m getting offers to do speeches. I answer all my fan mail, and I have a stack about two feet high.”

Harrelson was just beginning to work on his Hall of Fame speech but was sidetracked by his hospital stay. He’s in no rush.

“I’ve got six months to work on it,” he said.

Harrelson has kept tabs on what’s happening in baseball and said he was surprised to hear former Sox right-hander Jack McDowell say the Sox created an illegal sign-stealing operation at old Comiskey Park when Tony La Russa was manager.

“First of all, Tony never managed Blackjack,” Harrelson said. “I like Jack, he was a great competitor, but I don’t know why he said it. It’s hard to say somebody was doing something if you never played for him.

“To me [the Astros’ cheating scandal] is not a black eye to baseball. A lot of the fans are taking it wrong, and that’s their prerogative. But they have to understand it’s nothing new.

“That stuff has been going on for 100 years.”

As for Sox fans, Harrelson said he missed them this weekend.

“I was looking forward to mixing it up with the fans,” he said. “I’ve always loved coming to SoxFest because it’s the one chance to get up close and personal with the fans.”