Minor league coach killed by line drive

[johnnyg08]

I really don't see how this could happened...I've had screamers and I mean screamers hit at me and the ball has never come close (yes, probably lucky)...but I still don't understand how...except for some random fluke of a hop how an umpire other that PU should ever get hit by a batted ball. Sad, sad story about the Rockies coach...probably wasn't paying attention or something like that...what a tragedy!

[DG]

Originally Posted by johnnyg08

I really don't see how this could happened...I've had screamers and I mean screamers hit at me and the ball has never come close (yes, probably lucky)...but I still don't understand how...except for some random fluke of a hop how an umpire other that PU should ever get hit by a batted ball. Sad, sad story about the Rockies coach...probably wasn't paying attention or something like that...what a tragedy!

I agree. I expect he was not paying attention to the ball at the time. It's the only explanation for how a former major league player could get hit by a batted ball.

[fitump56]

Originally Posted by johnnyg08

I really don't see how this could happened...I've had screamers and I mean screamers hit at me and the ball has never come close (yes, probably lucky)...but I still don't understand how...except for some random fluke of a hop how an umpire other that PU should ever get hit by a batted ball.

Balls either grounded or aired can produce paths that will exceed reaction times. This is also a factor of # of games, I believe, having past my 1,000th.