Luis Salazar injured by foul ball UPDATE: loses eye

[OleMissCub]

scary story

 

http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-braves-blog/2011/03/09/braves-minor-league-manager-injured-by-foul-ball/

 

 

Braves minor league manager Luis Salazar regained consciousness and was breathing on his own Wednesday afternoon, after being hit in the face by a foul ball during Atlanta’s 6-1 Grapefruit League loss to St. Louis. Salazar, 54, was hit by a line drive off the bat of Braves catcher Brian McCann while standing in the dugout in the first inning of a game at Champion Stadium. He was unconscious for at least 20 minutes, and some players and others in the dugout feared he was dead.

 

He has multiple facial fractures and possible damage to his left eye, but doctors have ruled out brain damage, said a Braves spokesman.

 

He’s been in major league camp as a coach, and was standing near the railing in the Braves dugout with other coaches and players when a screaming line drive that hit him flush in the left side of his face. Salazar fell from the fifth step and landed face-first on the dugout floor, his body limp from the moment the ball hit him. He bled extensively and was unresponsive.

 

“He was bleeding from [his nose] and his mouth, too,” Lopez said. ” It was bad. I’ve never seen anything like that. It was real, real bad.”

 

Salazar lay motionless during a 14-minute delay in the game. He was attended to by medics and given oxygen. Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols said he could not bear to look in the dugout because he was told that Salazar wasn’t breathing. Once the Lifeflight helicopter neared the Wide World of Sports complex, Salazar was moved by stretcher to an ambulance that had driven onto the field and waited in front of the dugout. For an eerily quiet 14 minutes, Braves players, including McCann, stood by as Salazar was surrounded by team trainers, medics and security guards, and fans who sat in stunned silence.

 

At one point, one player turned away from the scene with his hand over his face.

Edited March 16, 2011 by OleMissCub

[Sammy Sofa]

Holy [expletive]. That's awful.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Holy [expletive], that's terrible. Also, it makes me feel old to read that he's 54

[Clem Fandango]

Is this the same Luis Salazar that played for the Cubs in the early 90's? Just reading about this made me uneasy. That's awful.

[OleMissCub]

No, it's the other Luis Salazar that is involved with professional baseball...

[Clem Fandango]

There's 5 of them listed on Baseball Reference. Many failed players become coaches. And believe it or not, there are people in this world who share the same name. I apologize for not brushing up on my Atlanta Braves minor league managerial trivia before asking such an absurd question

[OleMissCub]

If it wasn't our Luis Salazar then I would have put "Braves coach seriously injured..."

[NCCubFan]

If it wasn't our Luis Salazar then I would have put "Braves coach seriously injured..."

You did put it in the General Baseball forum, not the Cubs forum, so one could reasonably question whether it was the former Cub.

[OleMissCub]

If it wasn't our Luis Salazar then I would have put "Braves coach seriously injured..."

You did put it in the General Baseball forum, not the Cubs forum, so one could reasonably question whether it was the former Cub.

 

I think the fact that I wrote the name in the title is enough for one to figure out that it's the Cub. In the story it does mention that he was a former Cub. Perhaps I should have quoted that part.

[Tracer Bullet]

I think 6 posts about whether its Luis Salazar or Luis Salazar is probably sufficient.

[Tracer Bullet]

and that's awful and yet i'm surprised it hasn't happened before.

[biittner77]

Did anyone else ever refer to him as "wee zee" like George Jefferson's wife?

[Magnetic Curses]

he had a huge pinch double against the cardinals down the stretch in 89. maybe the single biggest hit of the season. he wasn't very good though, and looked older than 54 at that time.

 

yep, 9/10/1989, doubled off Chris Carpenter I, was driven home by Jerome Walton to put the cubs up 3-1 and finally get some space.

[NCCubFan]

he had a huge pinch double against the cardinals down the stretch in 89. maybe the single biggest hit of the season. he wasn't very good though, and looked older than 54 at that time.

 

yep, 9/10/1989, doubled off Chris Carpenter I, was driven home by Jerome Walton to put the cubs up 3-1 and finally get some space.

I'd forgotten that there was another Carpenter before the current Cardinal. His first name was actually spelled Cris, though. Interestingly he started his major league career with the Cardinals.

 

Cris Carpenter

[Mark Priors Calves]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/spring2011/news/story?id=6223098

 

He lost an eye during his third surgery.

[chuckywang]

It's just an eye. The gods saw fit to grace him with a spare.

[OleMissCub]

It's just an eye. The gods saw fit to grace him with a spare.

 

http://www.mtv.com/shared/promoimages/movies/123/300/300_trivia/281x211.jpg

[imb]

oh man, that's awful

[erik316wttn]

Wow, that's horrible. I can't even imagine. My prayers go out to him.

[SouthSideRyan]

Yeesh, that's a frightening subject line.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

So I guess fun and games are over now.

[Tryptamine]

So I guess fun and games are over now.

 

....Thanks Kyle, I laughed out loud and now I'm going to hell.