Story here.
I don’t really have anything to add to this. It’s just noteworthy and sad. I don’t know how often someone is actually killed by a baseball, but it’s obviously not THAT common.
I got hit in the head with a softball once, and that was enough. Weird when things happen so close to me, though. (I’d have hit that)
My husband has been a Babe Ruth league coach (15-19 year olds) for decades now. I don’t like the idea of him taking a line drive to the head much. We were watching the triple A finals this weekend, and one of his fellow coaches almost got hit by a line drive while third base coaching. I feel badly for the guy who was batting, too. I guess there is always the possibility that someone might be hit by your batting effort, but to kill somebody? That’s got to be hard.
A more common (but still very rare) occurrence is commotio cordis, when a batted or thrown ball hits a person in the chest and causes heart to stop.
http://www.nemc.org/medicine/card/commotiocordis.htm
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1590/is_2_59/ai_99554830
Awww, man, those sentences added just a whole 'nother layer of sad to this story.
Yeah, that last one got to me, too.
And featherlou, I’d also be very worried about the guy who hit the ball. I mean, it’s easy for everyone else in the world to say it’s a freak accident and he couldn’t have done anything differently, but that’s got to be a heavy load to carry.
A couple of years ago, I was at my sons little league game. I think they were 8 & 9, it was a coach pitch game. Anyway, the coach happened to be the batters father & wouldn’t you know it - the poor kid drove the ball straight into his fathers face.
The guy ended up being OK, ‘just’ a broken nose. But still, rough day for both father & son. The poor kid was hysterical.
When I played softball as a teen, the base coaches often wore helmets. Is this not common? Should it be?
Did anyone else think of A Prayer for Owen Meany? It’s life imitating art. Weird.