fenwaysouth posted:fishnsail posted:.............................
runner on 1st and 2nd and no outs Leadoff batter is up. Squares to bunt to sac the runners. pretty accurate mid 80 fastball is tipped off the bat and goes straight to the batters face.
...........................
So, many prayers sent. It takes your breath away. About 10 years ago my oldest was on the mound when this happened to a batter. Son was a high school junior and the week before had been gunned over 90mph. I know he was throwing hard that day..it was warm & a little humid. Their cleanup hitter squared to bunt and the ball went off his bat and took out a couple teeth. Blood was everywhere and some Doctors were in the stands, and they took care of him. We grabbed a flashlight and found his teeth in the batters box dirt, and the game continued. They called a friend of mine who is a dentist, and he got him fixed up. Tough kid. He went on to play football at Yale the next year. From that day forward, my kids wore mouthguards in the batters box.
Have to wonder when the facemask will become part of baseball. It has been 50 years since Conigliaro and 100 since Chapman. Not like no one knows this is out there.
This is even truer for pitchers who are 50 feet from the plate when the ball is hit. I took one off the honker at 10 in the school yard and was never hit harder than that. Broken and bled EVERYWHERE. Someone had to run and get my parents to take me to the hospital. I bled for better part of an hour before they stopped it. Pretty much ended baseball for me. Saw my first real curve at 70MPH from some old WWII Marine in batting practice coaching Babe Ruth. I stepped so far in the bucket that my front foot was actually pointed at the dugout door when I finished my swing. He took a little too much delight throwing the next few at me and breaking them over the plate. I know this because after everyone one of them he laughed out loud and said something about keeping my front shoulder in.
It was my first experience with real fear and after I nearly peed myself I got out of the box as fast as I could and never went back. To give you more context my father had sent me to the hospital a couple of times with some good old fashioned ass kicking's but I was never afraid of him as much as I was of that damn curveball. Tried again in HS and was braver but not enough to be a real player.
I didn't breathe right for 25 years until a couple of facial surgeries in my 30's fixed the sinus problems I had as a result of the whack I took.