Posted on 06/09/2010 12:50:46 PM PDT by La Enchiladita
LOS ANGELES -- The 3-year-old girl who suffered a fractured skull when hit in the head by a Russell Martin line drive in batting practice Monday underwent surgery Tuesday and a full recovery is expected, doctors said. "The surgery went well and we anticipate a full recovery," said Dr. J. Gordon McComb, head of the division of neurosurgery for Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. "We expect she'll be able to go home by the end of the week."
Martin was taking batting practice when he pulled a wicked line drive into the baseline field box seats just past third base. The girl was picked up and cradled by her father, who rushed her to first aid. She then was taken to Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, where the surgery was performed.
"I talked to the dad earlier today," said Martin. "It definitely was an accident and there really was nothing else you could do. I'm glad to hear she had surgery and she's doing better and long-term she'll be OK. I'm sure she's still a little shaken up. It's definitely tough for the whole family, but at least I'm glad she'll be OK.
"When it happened, I wasn't sure how serious it was," he said. "Then I saw she was hit in the head and didn't know if she lost consciousness. A fractured skull is pretty bad, but as long as she has a good recovery. My prayers were with her."
Martin said he intends to visit the girl "when the time is right." He said when he hit the ball, it looked like it was headed for an unoccupied section of seats, "but it had a lot of topspin, and it just sunk where the girl had her head poking out."
The White Sox fans showed some real class last night when they gave Armando Gallaraga a standing O when he took the field.
I’m 45 and I still take glove...even to the minors in Spokane. My kids do to.
Well, since I consider baseball to be one of the most boring games to watch, I guess a little fan blood from time to time can’t hurt.
Hell, let’s start out by making the bats AND balls out of metal to get the desired effect. <);~p
I’m a bat nazi. I hate the sound of metal bats and would be thrilled if they were banned for that reason alone.
I was at an Oakland A's game several years ago, a woman two seats away from me took a foul ball to the left cheek -- and we were thirty rows back behind the third base dugout.
You attend MLB, you keep your eyes open and yourself ready to move. This was a very young child, one can't expect the same reflexes. Thank God she is going to be okay, for the sake of her and her family and for Russell Martin, I can only imagine how he would be feeling if she had been killed by that ball.
For this use, I like the way they sound.
Oy, that *ping*.
You can hardly see that netting but, it could save someones’s life.
Thank you Lord.
This really bothered me when I read it.
I still do!
Only not to Tiger Stadium 8-(
NHL fans have accepted it since the tragedy we had here in Columbus at a Blue Jackets game in 2002. A 13 year old girl was killed by a puck.
You’re not supposed to say BP for batting practice anymore.
les’ do sumthin ‘bout that.
When I was a kid, that was a little bit gay. You were supposed to tough it up and bare hand it back in those days.
F.B.T.C.B.E.S.....or close!
:)I love it.
I know...it’s hard to keep up sometimes:)
*High five*
I listened to that one via radio and really appreciated all the plays. The game I saw on Sunday had great elements also: good fielding, DeWitt sacrifice bunt, etc., as well as the big plays and dramatic 11th inning, 2-outs win.
Oh yeah, Monday was the night A.J. Ellis made the squeeze play, right?
Dodgers and Braves had a very mild rhubarb, I think it was Saturday, due to Martin’s slide into 2nd.
So am I. That's why I don't mind sitting up in the rafters with the pigeons, lol.
Same here (always took glove to ballpark) when I was a kid. When my kids were little, I took my glove and never wavered my focus from the action at home plate. It really was not relaxing or enjoyable for me, as I was constantly terrified of this kind of incident (especially when we had “great seats” on the 1st or 3rd base lines). As others have observed, these line drives come off so fast and have spin and unpredictable paths that I’m surprised tragedies like these don’t happen more often. If you take a kid, you absolutely have to pay rapt attention to what’s happening and be prepared to react to an incoming foul ball (also complicating matters was that foul balls were frequently deflected by fans sitting in front of us - even had to be cognizant of balls hit into the deck above you - I’ve seen many cases of these hitting the cement or railings and dropping back down to the lower deck and somebody’s head).
Take your kid to the game = BE AWARE and PREPARED!
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