For it's 1, 2 ... 3?? Wilson & Koufax Both Hit in Head by Line Drives

Alright, both of these incidents happened in Arizona during early Cactus League practices and not in Los Angeles but they did happen to a former Dodger and a current Angel .... 

There's a slightly disturbing trend happening to players of Los Angeles Major League Baseball teams. Two players, one former and one current, have been hit in the head with line drives in the last four days. One has to wonder who's next since things seem to happen in threes.

It's a scary thought, getting hit in the head with a line drive. A ball moving that fast and hitting you in the right place can very possibly kill you. That means Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax and Angels' pitcher CJ Wilson are both extremely lucky men. Both were struck in the head with a line drive during batting practice. Both, while still requiring medical attention, walked off the field on their own.

On Saturday at the Los Angeles Dodgers' training camp in Glendale, AZ Koufax was hit in the head by a line drive off the bat of Andre Ethier while watching pitching prospect Ross Stripling. Koufax, 78, maintained his footing but suffered a cut to the forehead.  He was, however, immediately carted off by the team’s trainers in a golf cart and immediately tended to by the medical staff. The HOF pitcher seemed to take it in stride being seen later that day in the Dodgers' clubhouse conversing with some of the players.

A mere four days later Angels' starting pitcher CJ Wilson was hit in the head by a line drive off the bat of Yorvit Torreabla while throwing live batting practice. Wilson was knocked to the ground suffering a gash on his head. He, like Koufax, never lost conciousness and actually wanted to continue pitching. At the insistence of the team and medical staff he was taken to the hospital for a CT scan as a precaution. Wilson downplayed the incident later tweeting,

@str8edger8cer Everything is fine, except that pitch I threw. Shoulda caught it. Thanks for the #PMA - lesson is to not pitch to contact! Haha

Image courtesy of Greg Flume/Getty Images

These kinds of injuries though should not be taken lightly though.  In 2012 Arizona Diamondbacks' pitcher Brandon McCarthy, then of the Oakland Athletics, was hit in the head with a line drive during a game. He was out for the rest of the season, underwent emergency surgery and experience a seizure last year. McCarthy’s misfortune sparked the approval of an optional padded cap for pitchers by MLB. However rare, the possibility of a serious injury is omnipresent.

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HOF Koufax Hit with Line Drive by Ethier at Dodgers Training Camp!

(Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

What if you were Andre Ethier right now? How would you feel? Relieved? Embarrassed (even though it was a fluke accident)? Scared? Would you be sending flowers? I know I would after hitting a line drive that could have killed a legendary Hall of Famer!

Yes, at the Los Angeles Dodgers spring training camp in Glendale, AZ a line drive ball, out of the hand of prospect Ross Stripling and off the bat of Andre Ethier, hit HOF pitcher Sandy Koufax in the head. These types of injuries are not to be taken lightly. A line drive ball does have the capacity to kill someone if hit in the right place in the head at a high speed. In 2012 Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Brandon McCarthy, then with the Oakland Athletics, was hit in the head with a line drive during a game. He was out for the rest of the season and has since been experiencing seizures. Line drives do hit people and hurt them but it is an out of the ordinary occurrence.

That is why this must have been so insane for poor Mr. Ethier. What if you were the guy who killed the great Sandy Koufax? The Dodgers would have you traded where? Siberia? Just to have hurt someone is bad enough but a 78-year old legend? My own mind is blown at the thought. 

Getty Images

Anyway, the good news is that Mr. Koufax is alright. Koufax miraculously remained on his feet despite suffering a gash to his forehead. He was, however, immediately carted off by the team's trainers in a golf cart and was treated by medical staff. Reigning Cy Young Award winner, Clayton Kershaw, was sitting 20 feet away when Koufax was hit. He told reporters later, 

 "It didn't look good. I'm glad he walked off."

Such a scary moment for everyone involved but Koufax seemed to take it like the champ he is. He was later reported to be seen walking around the Dodgers clubhouse talking to some of the players. If there are any lasting side effects, as there have been with McCarthy, they remain to be seen. 

Koufax is a regular at the Dodgers spring training camp and works as a special assistant to team president Mark Walter. For the past two seasons he has also worked informally as a coach for the younger pitchers. 

Ethier later told the press that, of course, he was worried,

"Wouldn't you be? Not just because of who he is, but anybody who gets hit. It's scary. I've seen it happen."

Of course no player or fan ever wants to see a person hit by a line drive but in this case it did matter a little more because of who he hit. Dodgers pitching coach, Rick Honeycutt, seemed still shaken hours later saying,

"Everybody was like, 'Oh my gosh, You don't want anybody hit, but Sandy? I mean, you don't want that to happen to anybody, but especially him, he's out here to support and help us and be around. I just got a sick feeling from the sound of it."

Well, thankfully, the entire baseball world can breathe a sigh of relief that the Hall of Famer is safe and sound. I'm sure Andre Ethier is doing the exact same thing!

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