Déjà Vu All Over Again
Beautiful late summer evening. Softball under the lights. Last game of the season. It all seemed way too familiar. You know: Been there, done that. I've said it often, when things seem to be repeating themselves it is usually for a reason. Fate or something or someone is trying to tell you something. You should listen. Of course, as usual, I wasn't paying attention.
Below you will see the results of when an inattentive pitcher tries to stop a hard hit line drive with his face. (No for the squeamish) I have a fractured nasal bone, a fractured orbital bone, and several fractures of the left cheek bone. Easily the worst injury I've suffered in my long and storied baseball/softball career as a pitcher. By the way, I picked up the ball and threw the runner out before I commenced to bleed all over the pitcher's mound... pure instinct and reflex.
Speaking of déjà vu and a storied career, this is good a time to re-post the true story of my last, eerily similar, injury which took place on a beautiful summer night, under the lights, last game of the season. (Also not for the squeamish) Enjoy.
BJ
Some of the swelling had gone down, the discoloration on the way!
Perhaps I should have a red target on my chest.
See me right here next season!
The
Most Dangerous Pitch
BJ Neblett
© 2007, 2014
Blood
dripped onto the hard, cracked, sun dried earth, creating puddles of crimson
mud. This was the first time I’d been hit and unable to complete a play. That’s
what made me the maddest; that and the fact that we were ahead, winning. I was
pitching a shutout into the fourth inning: no walks; a couple of strike outs.
The nine guys behind me were doing a great job of handling the ball. And our
opponents, a team made up of tough, young Dominicans and Puerto Ricans, were no
slouches in the field.
I
was still standing when the first player reached me. I think it was Jose from
the other team. He’d been on second base. Bent over, my blood pooling at my
feet, I felt the comforting touch of his strong hand on my back.
“Easy,
take it easy.”
My
hand cradled my swollen right eye. It felt as if it would pop from its socket.
Adrenalin still surged in my body as my good left eye desperately searched the
infield around me. “Where’s the ball… where’s the damn ball?”
Someone
hollered to stop the play. “He’s hurt,” they shouted, “It’s a ground rule
double.”
A
double, which would mean Jose would score. I cursed silently and then caught
myself, asking for God’s forgiveness; and to save my sight. By now my eye
throbbed, swollen shut, swelling to nearly the size of the softball that struck
it.
“Damn,”
I repeated out loud as my team mates began to crowd around. Shock and concern
showed through their troubled cries of, “Oh, God,” and “Wow!” Then again, head
and face wounds do tend to bleed a lot. You’d have thought someone spilt a
quart of red ink into the parched dirt.
As
a pitcher, you have an invisible target painted on your chest. You are fair
game for every line shot, bouncing drive, and screaming grounder that burns its
way up the middle. On the mound you have two responsibilities: pitch the ball,
and get set. Or, better put, catch the ball without getting killed in the
process. In baseball, you are sixty feet, six inches away from the batter, and
raised ten inches. Softball plants you on the same plain as the hitter, some
forty seven to fifty feet from home plate. And the extra feet can make all the
difference, the difference between a hit and an out; between a bad bruise and a
career ending injury.
Baseball
rookie for the Cleveland Indians, Herb Score led the American League in strike
outs each of his first two seasons. In 1957, during a game against arch rival
New York, Score was struck in the eye by a line drive off the bat of Yankee Gil
McDouglas. His comeback lasted five frustrating seasons. But the one time
overpowering pitcher never again posted a winning record.1
While
waving to a relative during warm ups at Washington’s Griffith Stadium, Julius
‘Moose’ Solters was struck in the face by a thrown ball. The veteran American
League outfielder fought back from the injury, but it eventually caused him to
go blind.2
Being
known as possibly the first and only person ever blinded during a softball game
was not a distinction I was interested in carrying.
No
one intentionally tries to hit the pitcher. That would be stupid. Chances are
you’d be thrown out at first; maybe out of the game if your intentions are
known. It just happens, more often than many people realize. Hairline shin
fractures, battered knee caps and dislocated fingers are a part of a pitcher’s
life. I should have known better. I have the experience, and the scars, to
prove my point.
In
slow pitch softball, after release, there is an easy two and a half to three
seconds before the ball reaches the plate. There’s plenty of time for a hitter
to adjust himself in the batter’s box, and more than enough time for the
pitcher to get set. Freak accidents do happen. But there is no excuse for any
player not to be ready.
Getting
sloppy on the mound can shorten your career considerably. A combination of
recent victories, plus having avoided being seriously hit for some time,
conspired to make me careless. Instead of watching the travel of the ball,
estimating where the hit ball would travel, and getting set, I found myself
remaining planted on the rubber, no better than a spectator, after the pitch.
To
compound matters, I’d been working on a new pitch. The past couple of weeks,
while honing my curve ball, I discovered a sharp downward breaking ball. During
batting practice, the new pitch proved devastating to right handed hitters, and
frustrating for lefties. Cutting sharply inside and dropping with a wild spin,
no one seemed to be able to strike the ball squarely. The best efforts of some
of the most skillful hitters resulted in a bouncing hard grounder or a low line
drive. A few were able to get the ball in the air. When they did, it usually
went straight up for a short pop fly.
Because
of the propensity of even pull hitters to send the pitch back up the middle of
the infield, I jokingly dubbed my new weapon my ‘Come Back Pitch.’ During
practice I threw out several surprised opponents at first base. My come back,
often as not, came back right into my waiting glove.
I
worked on perfecting my new pitch. Slow pitch softball is far from an exact
science. Tossing the oversized sphere at the proper height and arc, the balls
fall victim to the slightest breeze. Sometimes you can make the wind work for
you, bending an outside lob right into the face of an unsuspecting hitter, or
cutting the edge of the plate. That is, if you are lucky. Otherwise, the best
you can hope for is a corner plate strike. Knuckle balls, spinners and curve
balls can also be used to thwart hitters, but are difficult to master. My ‘Come
Back’ pitch had the added advantage of a fast, tight spin, making it extra
difficult to place squarely on the bat.
One
of my heroes of the old time players is a pitcher for the hapless Washington
Senators, nicked named ‘the Big Train.’ From around 1900 through the ‘20’s,
Walter Johnson terrorized hitters with what most consider to be the fastest
fast ball in the major leagues, then and since.
How
fast was Johnson’s fast ball?
Consider
Ray Chapman.
Chapman
once took first one, then a second blazing fast ball from the Big Train,
Johnson. Stepping out of the batter’s box, the stunned hitter headed towards
the dugout only to be reminded by the umpire he had another strike coming.
Chapman continued on his way, calmly calling back over his shoulder, “Keep it.
I don’t want it.”
Perhaps
the ill-fated Chapman should have taken the event as an omen. On October 10,
1920, while up at bat, Ray Chapman was struck and killed by a fast ball from
pitcher Carl Mays.3
We
jumped out to a quick two run lead our first at bat. I managed to set down
three of the four batters I faced in the bottom of the first, including a
strike out. Our team went three up, three down, as did the opposition, in an
uneventful second inning. We went up four to nothing with two more runs scored
in the third off of left fielder Ron’s triple. The last of the third started
off innocently enough with a routine pop fly. Then the bottom fell out. A
single up the middle, a misplayed grounder followed by a line shot, and the
bases were loaded. And the top of their lineup was coming to bat.
It
was time for some fancy arm work.
It
was time to try out the ‘Come Back.’
The
first pitch caught Alfredo, a good hitter, by surprise. Looking at first like
it would fall short and outside, the ball veered sharply inside, slicing the
edge of the plate. The look on his face was priceless.
Ok…
strike one…
So
far, so good...
I
gave him two junk pitches to think about, then another Come Back. It tipped off
the edge of his bat and rolled harmlessly towards the mound, right to me. A
quick throw home for the force and there were two outs.
Franco
wouldn’t be so easy. After a couple of called balls and a Come Back called
strike, I gave him a sharply curving breaking pitch, thanks to a friendly cross
breeze. He swung hard. But the backspin sent the ball straight up. It was
caught by the catcher. Out number three and we were out of the inning. The Come
Back had done its job.
Our
fourth inning produced a couple of hits but no runs. Then it was their turn
again. And their three best sluggers were coming to bat.
Jimmy
is a strong pull hitter. He had managed a double and a triple off of me in
other games. He wouldn’t bite on a short lob which fell ineffectually in front
of the plate. My second pitch, a Come Back, he sent past me to my right. Our
short stop bobbled the hard hit bouncing grounder, but managed to throw Jimmy
out at first.
Next
was Jose, the team’s cleanup hitter and a threat to send one out anytime at
bat. He’d gotten a deep dangerous fly off of me in the first inning which thankfully
turned into a long out. I toyed with him best I could, giving him nothing to
swing at until the count was three and two. Then he saw my Come Back. He not
only saw it, but lined it like a rocket past me, the short stop and the infield
for a double. My Come Back was earning its name. Those two shots should have
told me something. They didn’t. I was still standing flat foot on the rubber.
Bugara
hits the ball probably as hard as humanly possible. His drives jump to the
outfield before anyone has a chance to react. He once hit three tape measure
homers over center field in three consecutive at bats in one game. I didn’t
have the time or the inclination to fool around with him. Not with Jose at
second and only one out. Even a sacrifice fly to the outfield would result in a
run scoring. I took a deep breath, let it out, and tossed a Come Back.
And
it did…
As
best I can figure, the ball came off his bat and tipped off my glove in about
half a second. That works out to something like 75 or 80 miles per hour.
And
there I stood.
I
raised my glove, but not quickly enough, not far enough.
Victims
of automobile accidents often report that at the moment of impact time seems to
move in slow motion. I now understand what they experience. For one protracted
fraction of a second time stood still. The din of the spectators faded to a
distant thunder in my ears. My gloved hand crept skywards. It paused motionless
in front of me at about nose level. The dull white leather clad ball balanced
precariously on the edge of the mitt’s webbing, frozen in space. One thought
replayed in my mind over and over, like a stuck 45 RPM record: I’m not going to
catch this.
And
then someone hit fast forward.
The
speeding projectile tipped off my glove and mercifully slowed slightly. It
slammed into my face, catching the cheek bone and upper eye socket squarely
with a brain jarring, sickening thud.
I
was helped off the field, still holding the bloody wad of tissue someone
provided, against my eye brow. It is interesting and strange to note that I
never experienced any major pain, especially considering the seriousness of the
injury. At the time of the impact, I felt as if punched by a gloved boxer, more
surprising than painful. After, a dull, achy throb and a feeling of pressure
against the eye ball were the main discomforts. By morning, and for several
weeks, the entire orbit around my right eye remained extremely tender, swollen
and sore.
It’s
never a good sign when your attending physician grimaces at your injury. The
swelling and discoloration were severe. For others it made looking at the
damages more painful than the actual experience. After tolerating an hour of
ice, the gash just below my eye brow was cleaned and stitched. A comprehensive
exam commenced including x-rays and a lot of discomforting prodding and poking.
The doc said keeping the badly swollen and bruised eye socket well iced may
have helped saved my sight. I was released with anti-biotic and strict orders
to keep my eye iced constantly for the next twenty four hours. Two days later
an optimistic optometrist said he could find no permanent damage, thank God.
But I wasn’t out of the woods yet. He told me it would be weeks, maybe more,
before the long term affects of such an injury could be determined.
In
the ‘60’s, Tony Conigliaro was well on his way to a hall of fame career.
Joining the Boston Red Sox in 1964, in just a few seasons, the twenty two year
old right fielder hit an amazing 104 home runs, running up 294 RBIs, with a
.276 average.
On
August 18, 1967, Tony C came to bat in the fifth inning against California
Angels’ pitcher Jack Hamilton. A fast ball, estimated near 100 MPH, struck
Conigliaro in the left cheek bone. The impact shattered his eye socket and
permanently damaged his left eye.
Conigliaro
was carried off the field on a stretcher. It wasn’t immediately known if he
would survive the injury. Tony survived and returned to the Red Sox in 1969,
moving to the Angels in 1971. After three disappointing seasons, it was evident
the damage done on that August night in 1967 was too great, and he retired.
Tony
C suffered a massive heart attack and stroke in 1982 which left him in a
vegetative state. The one time Cooperstown bound slugger passed away shortly
after his 45th birthday in 1990.4
Sunday,
October 14th. It was too soon. I knew it was too soon. The days were
growing short, the air chilly. Softball would be ending. I wasn’t about to
spend the winter wondering how it would feel; wondering if I would pitch again;
if I could pitch again.
Outwardly,
my eye was healing quickly. All that remained was some discoloration and a
forming scar where the stitching of the ball cut me.
But
that was on the outside.
The
pressure on my eyeball subsided, returning from time to time. And my depth
perception was nearly normal. At least that’s what I told myself. But I was
starting to be bothered by sparks of light, flashes they are called, and they
can be harbingers of more serious problems to come.
Still,
I was determined; stubborn.
For
the first time in my life, nervousness and doubt accompanied me to the mound.
Doing my best to shake the feeling, I steeled up some counterfeit courage and
took my warm up pitches.
Not
bad…
Not
good either…
Then
again, a four week layoff will rust up anybody’s arm. Even without a batter to
face, I found myself purposely avoiding the pitch that had nearly blinded me.
It’s too soon I rationalized. Just stick with the basics.
It
did little to easy my churning stomach.
The
first hitter of the game dug into the batter’s box. A familiar, reassuring
voice reached me from left field. It was my friend Ron. “Give ‘em the old ‘Come
Back,’ Billy!”
And
so I did.
1. Cahan, Richard and Mark Jacob, The
Game That Was, p. 230
2. Cahan, Richard and Mark Jacob, The
Game That Was, p. 231
3. Cahan, Richard and Mark Jacob, The
Game That Was, pp. 24, 138
4. David Eisenthal,
davideinsenthal.typepad.com
