# MLB player never the same after getting beaned? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 10, 2001, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-player-never-the-same-after-getting-beaned/86642 "2001-10-10T19:47:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-player-never-the-same-after-getting-beaned/86642/1 "2001-10-10T19:47:27Z")
Was there ever a major league player whose career was never the same after getting beaned? I’m talking about an all-star caliber player, who got drilled in the head in one at bat, then was never the same afterwards and was soon out of baseball? I have a vague memory of some player this happened to - I think they brought it up after Wagner got hit by a line drive a couple years ago - but it was before my time and I can’t seem to put this together into a search engine that yields any results… ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-player-never-the-same-after-getting-beaned/86642/2 "2001-10-10T19:50:58Z")
Well, Ray Chapman, shortstop for the Cleveland Indians, died after being beaned by Yankee pitcher Carl Mays in 1920. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-player-never-the-same-after-getting-beaned/86642/3 "2001-10-10T19:56:19Z")
Tony Conigliaro. Herb Score. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-player-never-the-same-after-getting-beaned/86642/4 "2001-10-10T20:00:55Z")
Kirby Puckett had to retire due to vision problems suffered after a beaning and he was all star caliber. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-player-never-the-same-after-getting-beaned/86642/5 "2001-10-10T20:02:18Z")
A couple of other famous instances were: Tony Conigliaro, who hit 24 Homers as a 19-year-old rookie with the Red Sox in 1964, and became youngest in history to lead the AL in HRs (32) in 1965. He was hit in the face with a fastball in 1967 and was never the same, although he did come back to hit 36 HRs in 1970. Herb Score, a pitcher for the Cleveland Indians, went 16-10 in 1955, and 20-9 in 1956, then only 19-37 in six more years with the Indians and White Sox after being beaned. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-player-never-the-same-after-getting-beaned/86642/6 "2001-10-10T20:07:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dooku \* > **Was there ever a major league player whose career was never the same after getting beaned? I’m talking about an all-star caliber player, who got drilled in the head in one at bat, then was never the same afterwards and was soon out of baseball?** A recent example was Dickie Thon. Thon was a young shortstop for the Astros who had a good season in 1982 and then a tremendous season in 1983, hitting and fielding brilliantly, and at the time looked like a Cal Ripken type. Early in 1984 he was beaned by Mike Torrez, and was out of baseball for a year and a half. He came back but always had problems with his vision, and never played particualrly well again. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-player-never-the-same-after-getting-beaned/86642/7 "2001-10-10T20:08:52Z")
Slight nit, wasn’t Herb Score hit in the eye by a line drive while he was pitching? But definitely Conigliaro and Ray Chapman. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-player-never-the-same-after-getting-beaned/86642/8 "2001-10-10T20:12:59Z")
Sorry, Score wasn’t beaned but was hit in the eye by a line drive off the bat of Yankee Gil MacDougal while Score was pitching. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-player-never-the-same-after-getting-beaned/86642/9 "2001-10-10T20:17:46Z")
Whoops, **kunilou** beat me to the correction. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-player-never-the-same-after-getting-beaned/86642/10 "2001-10-10T20:59:10Z")
Kirby Puckett retired due to glaucoma, not the effects of an injury.