There was a scary moment for the Mets this afternoon as David Wright get hit in the head by Matt Cain in the fourth inning:
Wright was taken to the Hospital for Special Surgery by ambulance after being checked out in the clubhouse by a team doctor. Mets spokesman Jay Horwitz said a CT scan was negative and that Wright had a concussion. He was expected to stay in the hospital overnight for observation.
Cain nailed Wright with a 94 mph fastball and watched from a crouched position between home plate and the mound. When he came to bat in the fifth inning, he asked Mets catcher Brian Schneider if Wright was OK.
“It was nice to see him walk off the field. It was definitely a situation where you hoped there’s no blood,” Cain said. “I’ll see if I can get a hold of him tomorrow.”
I just watched the play on the DVR, and it’s just as scary as it sounds. The ball hitting his helmet sounds like a ball hitting a bat. The Mets finally lose the fourth of their four star offensive players. I hope the Mets give him plenty of time to recover from the concussion.
What I don’t understand is Santana going after Giants batters three innings later:
Three innings after Mets All-Star David Wright was hit in the helmet by a pitch from Matt Cain and sent to the hospital, his teammate Johan Santana threw a pitch behind the Giants’ Pablo Sandoval.
One batter later, Santana hit Bengie Molina.
“I feel like I have to protect my teammates,” Santana said. “You can call that whatever you want. We’re in it together.”
I’m sorry, retaliating for an accident doesn’t help anyone or send a message. Santana deserves to be fined for that.
The Giants win the game 5-4 in ten innings and gain 1/2 game on the Rockies. Colorado’s game in Florida was rained out, and they’ll play a double header on Sunday.
Update: In a related piece, Chris Conway looks at the resistance of athletes to better protective equipment.
Teams have been busting Wright WAY inside all year. I susoect Johan would have retaliated sooner but to do so was to risk being ejected and a larger strain put on the pen. I hate the idea of hitting a batter, but if guys are going to pitchi inside they need to do so wiout hitting the batter. When they hit yours and you then hit theirs, everyone knows what is going on and it lets the pitcher who “started it” know that he needs to be careful if he is going to go inside. I think that going in on the PITCHER is a better way though, although you may not have thyat chance as starters seldom go 7 anymore
I agree with the above commenter and will go a little further. As a pitcher I know you have to go inside…however, if someone nails your guy, no matter if it’s on purpose or a mistake I always “retaliated”. If it’s on purpose, that obviously makes sense…eye for an eye type situation. However, even if it’s an accident you retaliate to tell your opponents that if you’re going to come inside on my guys you damn well better have good enough control to come inside or your boys are going to pay the price. Its a message…if you’re going to pitch my teammate inside you better be careful.
I happened to have been at the game ( behind home plate ). The pitch hit him square in the helmet ( had his head been a bat.. it could’ve sent the ball 500ft… if that gives you an idea how hard and square it hit him ), but despite that… it WAS an accident, and accidents DO happen. As soon as it hit him, I looked at Cain, who had that pale ( oh my god ) look on his face, as he crouched down looking at Wright. So, being an accident, Johan had NO right going after TWO batters in a row THREE innings later. He indeed should be fined as his pitches protected NOONE. In fact.. all they did was fire up Sandoval, who killed him with that 3-run homer… ( Just an honest opinion )
You should have linked to the link in the article you linked to (does that make sense?) Here it is:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/13/sports/baseball/13helmet.html
This was published three days ago, and it was the first thing I thought of when I saw what happened. I read it then and thought that it was one more reason to like the way David Wright plays the game and handles himself. Here is the last paragraph from that article:
“If it provides more protection, then I’m all for it,” said Mets third baseman David Wright, who last week dodged a Brad Thompson fastball traveling on a frightening vector toward his head. “I’m not worried about style or looking good out there. I’m worried about keeping my melon protected.”
The “it” he is talking about is a helmet that can purportedly protect a player from a 100 MPH fastball to the helmet from 24 inches away. The “style” he is referring to is the non-traditional look of the helmet. The whole article is worth a quick read. I’m not trying to call out Wright on this, he seems to be genuinely interested in protecting himself and serving as a good role model for kids. It’s just that the timing of this incident makes this worth pointing out.
I wish nothing but the best for David Wright. I hope for a speedy recovery so we can see him back at the hot corner in short time. Too bad he didn’t have this helmet tonight.