http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/baseball/mlb/07/23/coolbaugh.dies.ap/

Quote :

" NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- Tulsa Drillers coach Mike Coolbaugh died Sunday night after being struck in the head by a line drive as he stood in the first-base coach's box during a Texas League game with the Arkansas Travelers, police said. The game was suspended in the ninth inning after Coolbaugh was struck by a hard-hit foul ball off the bat of Tino Sanchez and taken to Baptist Medical Center-North Little Rock. Travelers spokesman Phil Elson said Coolbaugh was hit on the right side of his head or on the forehead -- "I'm getting conflicting reports," he said -- and fell to the ground immediately. According to a report posted on the Drillers' Web site late Sunday, Coolbaugh was knocked unconscious and CPR was administered to him on the field. Sgt. Terry Kuykendall, spokesman for North Little Rock police, said Coolbaugh was still alive when he was put in an ambulance, but stopped breathing as the ambulance arrived at the hospital. "They tried to resuscitate him, but he was pronounced dead at 9:47 p.m.," Kuykendall said. Coolbaugh, 35, played 44 games in the major leagues for the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers over two seasons. The Drillers' Web site said Coolbaugh joined the Tulsa staff on July 3 as a batting coach. He played for the team briefly in 1996. Tulsa is a Colorado Rockies affiliate. A native of Binghamton, N.Y., Coolbaugh went to high school in San Antonio and was drafted in 1990 by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 16th round. He played third base and bounced around the minors for a decade, before making his major league debut with the Brewers in 2001. He played five more big league games for the Cardinals in 2002. He hit two home runs in 70 major league at-bats. Coolbaugh's older brother, Scott, also played 167 major league games over parts of four seasons with Texas, San Diego and St. Louis in the early 1990s. The Travelers, an Angels affiliate, led 7-3 at the time the game was suspended with no outs and a runner on first in the top of the ninth inning. Officials said a date and time for finishing the game had not yet been chosen. Coolbaugh is survived by his wife, Mandy, and two young sons, Joseph and Jacob. Mandy Coolbaugh is expecting another child in October."

For anyone who thinks baseball isnt dangerous. it's amazing more spectators dont get killed.

7/23/2007 9:20:17 AM

usually for the ball to hit a spectator it's not going to be a line drive, but a popup ball that the spectators have plenty of time to see coming...

this sounds like a freak line drive at someone who wasn't paying as much attention to the batter as he should have been...

still... i wouldn't be surprised to start seeing a few base coaches wearing helmets

7/23/2007 9:24:15 AM

I don't think anyone thinks baseball isn't dangerous. I hope his family was not in attendance.

7/23/2007 9:25:25 AM

Quote :

"i wouldn't be surprised to start seeing a few base coaches wearing helmets"

i've always been a little curious as to why this wasn't the standard

7/23/2007 9:46:08 AM

R.I.P. that is terrible for that family.

Imagine what the player that hit the ball is going through.

7/23/2007 9:50:51 AM

I was shagging balls in HS during bp, and my left fielder missed the cutoff and hit the coach squar in the head on the fly. He went to one knee for about 5 minutes came up woozy, yelled plantation, and we ran for the rest of practice.

7/23/2007 10:31:45 AM

ahah shagging balls made me lol

but back on topic, yea that sucks

7/23/2007 10:45:08 AM

And everyone laughed at John Olerud

7/23/2007 10:47:30 AM

^John Olerud had a shunt in his head and if he got hit in the head it would have killed him.

I don't think anyone with a right mind was laughing.

7/23/2007 11:00:46 AM

well apparently a ball to the head will kill anyone

dont tell my girlfriend

*ba dum chish*

7/23/2007 11:02:00 AM

I was running concessions for a high school game this past summer, and the pitcher on our team got freaking drilled in the face by a line drive. The ball bounced back off of him and rolled all the way back behind home plate. He was on the ground for at least 5 min until the ambulances came.

He got knocked cold, but ended up just having a concussion and a huge bruise there.

7/23/2007 7:26:49 PM

lol

7/23/2007 7:51:08 PM

its ba dum ching

7/23/2007 7:51:09 PM

Yeah, we had a pitcher take a liner in the face... cracked his cheek bone/orbital socket in like about 4 places and ruptured his sinus.

7/23/2007 10:29:02 PM

^ Sounds like Bryce Florie. That video is nasty.

7/23/2007 10:54:34 PM

Quote :

"usually for the ball to hit a spectator it's not going to be a line drive, but a popup ball that the spectators have plenty of time to see coming..."

Are you sure about that, I see line drive foul balls hit hard in the crowd all the time. I mean shit, have you ever watched Gary Sheffield hit?

7/23/2007 11:11:08 PM

Yeah I was gonna say, I used to work at a minor league park and saw two spectators get hit by a line drive to the head. One was an old lady

This is sad and

Quote :

"I hope his family was not in attendance."

7/24/2007 8:47:04 AM

This is so incredibly sad...and his wife is 6 months pregnant. I can't even imagine the pain that family is going through.

One of my best friends at CU is a pitcher for the softball team. She took a line drive back in March. The ball hit her eye flush. Broken cheekbone, eye socket, and she had internal bleeding. She is lucky it didn't kill her on the spot.

7/24/2007 11:46:52 PM

they should just allow everyone to use aluminum/graphite bats in the MLB so that we can watch pitchers get decapitated on sportscenter.

7/25/2007 12:22:36 PM