Minor league coach killed by line drive
 

I'm sure some of you have already seen this:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,290335,00.html

With a wood bat!

Makes a great case for converting ALL leagues and levels to wood bat. If they were batting metal, this probably would have decapitated him!

I've worked in parks when in the middle, it is hard as hell to see the ball coming off the bat. I would bet we all have been chased by those screaming foul balls that keep hooking right for you no matter where you go! When a simple step toward fair ground is all that is needed to avoid it. I can only imagine that he was somewhat distracted upon contact. I feel for his wife and kids.

One day I was coaching 1B for a 13u travel team when one of big boys ripped one off my shoulder. There was no way I could move in time. Part of the problem was I was down the line and a step out of the box (closest to the plate). Another reason to make sure coaches stay in their boxes!
On another board, a poster brought up the thought that youth leagues may start required coaches to wear helmets when on the field. Interesting thought, especially in the lower levels when you are so close to the plate.

If they were hitting the ball as hard as the big boys, that might make sense. But thats why they play on small fields.

Sounds silly to me.

On this Forum? Noooo, ask around, there are umpires who have 30+ years and never, ever been hit. :eek: Oh, maybe once when the moon pulled the ball into their paths overcoming their superathleticism.

They make the players when they coach base. Young life loss is more tragic? Maybe. Any life loss is not?

Adults are allowed to wear helmets.

The difference isn't the "value" of the life; it's that adults are (generally) considered able to make their own choice while children need to be "forced" to protect themselves.

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.

Bob, I've always recognized you as a paradigm of interpretive charity: you always seem to impute the best possible interpretation on the posters in the forum.

You must be approaching your limit with some of these clowns, huh? It's too bad that moderators can't use the ignore list and still do their jobs!

This is really sad. I had classes with Scott at UT, and I know they were close.

I'm sure the word you were looking for was "paragon", not paradigm.

I think I'm OK with 'paradigm', though you might be a paragon as well.

I agree. The ultimate test whether adults will be required to wear helmets will be liability.

Insurance dictates.

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.

Now you see why I didn't give your lesson in reaction times to you? It would have been deleted as my free offer to educate you was.

Don't worry, I have an entire new post on this which you can be enlightened. Now just sit there and don't go ballistic again and this post of mine you will stick. Get out your 3x5 spiral and sharpen your pencil.

I heard briefly on the radio yesterday that the autopsy showed the cause of death as being a crushed artery in the neck. Does this mean that a helmet wouldn't have protected him?

In a sad but related story to this discussion....

http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=6841489

Could be. Unfortunately, it is not possible to protect ourselves from all dangers. I really don't think there would be any significant benefit from mandating that base coaches wear helmets. How often do they actually get injured at all?

Sometimes bad things happen :(

One comment on that story linked to Jurrasics post. I believe that in LL Majors and below per rule, there is no on-deck batter allowed.

It's the age old argument, one life, what is it worth?

Sure, seeing as how big brother can tell us we have to wear seat belts in our cars and helmets while on a motorcycle, why shouldn't a league determine what's best for us. Of course that leaves hot dogs and beer out of the equation for soooo many.


Tim.

Originally Posted by fitump56
It's the age old argument, one life, what is it worth?

I am the last of the last to have governments or governing bodies dictate any considerations into my life but I am not so hard-grained, anti-Government to refuse to accept the enormous amount og good "Big Brother" has done for us. The facts are clearly evident in the belt and helmet cases you have cited. Thank God they did force it on us.

Equating governing bodies with always malicious intent when they often save us from ourselves (Big Brothering as you call it) runs a truly deaf ear to US history.

First off, before you ever defend anything called Big Brother you need to read 1984. I garauntee you will never use the term Big Brother as part of the defense of anything again.

Second, you are not the last of the last because you clearly are going to go before me.

Third, the issue is not so much who is dictiating what as whether or not it makes any sense. A batting helmet runs about $35. You are going to require every team to buy 2 more. That's $70 a team. Now how many teams are there in America? There's well over 100 in my league alone. We're talking hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars and in the end the coach still dies because he was hit in the neck. It doesn't make any sense to mandate it because its too expensive for too little return.

If we were to apply the same logic to all tragedies that have occurred on a baseball or softball field we would have all players and coaches wearing heart guards and face guards as well as helmets. Take for instance the young 12 year old softball player that was recently killed by a thrown ball that hit her in the head during a routine practice. Should we now call out for all fielders to be forced to wear a helmet?

What about the young players who've been killed after getting hit in the chest with a batted ball, pitchers most noteably. Should we now mandate heart guard protectors for all players?

Where would it end is the real question.



Tim.

You need to reread my post. Read Orwell, protested the Vietnam War, you're preaching to the wrong guy. BUT, that does not mean that BB is always evil, e.g. seat belts, environmentals, pollution......
Au contraire, they bought and upgraded equipment when their liability insurance and the costs to defend, win or lose, multi-million $$ lawsuits became a reality. That fact and that fact alone may drive the use, if not, then you can expect nothing will transpire.

Tim, you make a great point. I look at people who want to do away with aluminum bats due to isolated tragedies. What happens to baseball when someone gets struck or impaled by a broken wood bat. Where does the game go from there?

In all likelihood, yes.

I suggest you reread 1984. Big Brother is nothing but evil incarnate. But you have to understand, I would never have protested the Vietnam war, except maybe the limited way in which it was fought.

The point is it won't become a reality. It was a fluke incident.

Originally Posted by fitump56
You need to reread my post. Read Orwell, protested the Vietnam War, you're preaching to the wrong guy. BUT, that does not mean that BB is always evil, e.g. seat belts, environmentals, pollution......


Orwell was fun reading in 1975. You won't find many who wish the decentralization of gov't than I do. I protested the Vietnam War because it was a slaughterground which had no real purpose. As we can plainly see today.

Originally Posted by bob jenkins
I heard briefly on the radio yesterday that the autopsy showed the cause of death as being a crushed artery in the neck. Does this mean that a helmet wouldn't have protected him?

Tough to say, Mark. Would he have been better protected w/ a helmet? Absolutely.

I tell ya, we are simply going to have to put a stop to this baseball nonsense. The game must be banned for our own protection. Why, someone could get hurt, or even killed. I say we do away with baseball once and for all.;)

It's not tough to say at all. A neck injury is not prevented by a batting helmet. So no, he would not have been better protected against this injury by a helmet.

He means overall. He would've been better protected overall with a helmet than sans helmet.

So, for everyone's protection, everyone on the field will now be required to dress like this:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ArmorsMetM.JPG

I believe you invent a device to protect body part that was injured. In some areas this device is called a "Yeager".

No he wouldn't have been better protected. He would have been more protected but more and better are different things.

That is correct. But let's examine what is now being reported.

"a burst or crushed blood vessel stopped blood flow to his brain"....a burst vessel does not have to be a direct strike to the neck (artery = to brain, vein = away from brain; "vessel" = either) either of those could well have been in areas where the helmet would have protected.

None of this discussion makes any hill of beans in the end result of things. The insurance companies dictate the desired protection rules.

Wow!!! That's all I can say. I make a post that is just a tiny bit inflammatory and "bzzzzztttt!!" deleted (or edited) within two minutes. I just don't know if I'll be able to get over this. I may have to go and see a therapist and get some meds. Any suggestions on brand and dosage? Tyler? fitump56?? ozzy???

Have to disagree. In this case (helmet or no helmet) more and better are the same.

should BASE coache's be required to wear HOCKEY style helmets?

This is effin scary. I saw just this weekend an ump take a 85 mph fastball right off the carotid artery. Apparently catcher called for a curve. That is not what was thrown. Ump stayed in there like we are taught to do and somehow the ball got in between his chest protector and face mask and got all meat. Dropped him like a sack of potatoes. You could see the contour of the skin go bumpy where he got hit.

In the case of this umpire, the first though I had was that an HSM much better covers that area.

The face mask vs the HSM safety (non)issue is about as arguable as putting your hands on the dashboard vs seat/shoulder harnesses in a high speed crash.