Baseball Coach Loses Eye After Taking Near-Fatal Foul Ball to the Face
- Posted on March 17, 2011 at 2:07am by
Emily Esfahani Smith
- Print »
- Email »
KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP / THE BLAZE) — Atlanta Braves minor league manager Luis Salazar has lost an eye after he was struck in the face by a line drive while watching a spring training game.
Braves general manager Frank Wren said Wednesday that doctors were unable to save Salazar’s left eye after the accident March 9.
The former major league player is otherwise recovering from his injuries and expects to manage Lynchburg of the Class A Carolina League this season.
The 54-year-old Salazar, above, was standing against the railing on the top step of the dugout during a game between the Braves and St. Louis Cardinals when Brian McCann fouled a ball in his direction. Salazar was unable to get out of the way and fell head-first back into the dugout.
Here is amateur footage of Salazar being taken away in the ambulance:
The game was stopped for almost 20 minutes so Salazar could be airlifted to an Orlando hospital. He regained consciousness on the way and was treated for multiple facial fractures, but doctors were unable to save his left eye.
“In the big picture, and that’s what we have to keep in mind, this is a good outcome,” Wren said. “He’s alive.”
McCann was badly shaken and didn’t return when the game resumed. He visited Salazar in the hospital and has stayed in touch.
“It’s a crazy, crazy thing that happened,” McCann said the day after Salazar was struck. “So unfortunate. You feel hopeless.”
Wren said that Salazar would spend about a week at home in Boca Raton, Fla., and then return to Braves camp at some point this spring. The minor-league season begins April 7 and Salazar had been serving as an extra major league coach when struck.
“Doctors have told us and him that there is no reason why, in about four or six weeks, he can’t manage his team as he anticipated,” Wren said.
Salazar is in his first year with the Braves organization.
Comments (30)
Sign In To Post Comments! Sign In
Popular Stories
MSNBC Host Snaps in Heated Segment: ‘What in the World Is Riskier Than Being a Poor Person in America?’ 690 Comments
Does Misstated Marathon Claim Prove Paul Ryan Is Dishonest? (POLL) 660 Comments
‘Jumah at the DNC’ Speaker: ‘Muslims Visited America Prior to Columbus’ & ‘It Was a Muslim’ Who Guided Him to the ‘New World’ 524 Comments
Obama: RNC Like Watching ‘Black-and-White TV’ Because Romney ‘Did Not Offer a Single New Idea’ 363 Comments
Paper Details Obama Admin’s Alleged Secret Note Sent to Iran: If Israel Attacks, We Won’t Get Involved 331 Comments
Faith
This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 214 Comments- Pakistani Muslim Cleric Accused of Framing Disabled Christian Girl in Koran-Burning Case Read More
- ‘Made Up Religion’: TV Historian Enrages Muslims, Receives Threats After Producing UK Documentary Questioning Islam’s Beginnings 228 Comments
Meet the Controversial German Imam Accused of Brutally Beating His Wife & Pushing Sharia Law Read More
‘Self-Proclaimed Messiah’ & Unification Church Leader the Rev. Sun Myung Moon Has Died — Here’s His Life Story Read More
Business
President Obama Issues Major ‘Green Energy’ Executive Order Read More- Germany’s Upcoming Court Ruling Will be Huge for the EU Read More
Ford Looks to Beat Toyota for Best-Selling Car in 2012 With This Model 147 Comments
Bernanke & QE3: Here’s What You Need to Know Read More- ‘Extortion’: Why Did the Labor Department ‘Drop the Hammer’ on Oregon Farmers? 300 Comments
Technology
- This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 214 Comments
‘TaserDrone’: Hackers Weaponize Quadcopter With Actual ‘Shocking’ Technology Read More
Ever Heard of the Wild ‘Burning Man’ Festival in the Middle of the Nev. Desert? Here’s Your Primer Read More
Stanford Develops Technology ‘Better Than Steroids’ for Athlete Recovery Read More
Have You Pretended to Know What ‘the Cloud’ Is? You’re Not Alone Read More
Submitting your tip... please wait!
JohnJoseph
Posted on March 17, 2011 at 9:20pmThe only reason the Braves left Richmond is because of the then mayor of Richmond. He made an unreasonable request of building a new stadium in a part of Virginia that he knew would not be acceptable to the Braves organization. I have since left the Richmond area and am now living closer to where I can attend and follow the Lynchburg Hill Cats!
Report Post »MAULEMALL
Posted on March 17, 2011 at 6:24pmOne eyed moes….
Report Post »MAULEMALL
Posted on March 17, 2011 at 6:24pmBaseball ranks right up there with figure skateing sportswise…
Buncha moes ….
Report Post »MAULEMALL
Posted on March 17, 2011 at 6:22pmWow… The team thats there now seems to be doing okeedokee…
Maybe the management that stated that the field wasn’t the issue were lying…
Effem…. I wouldn’t tinkle on them if they were on fire…
“Pro” athletes,,,, What a freakin joke.
Report Post »Jsh1284
Posted on March 17, 2011 at 4:04pmMall, the field in Richmond was starting to fall apart. It was old and abused. They had an opportunity to go to a new stadium .. where they can have state of the art training facilities and more fans in the seats. Now explain to me how that wasn’t a good idea?!
I can understand why you’d be frustrated with the move, but it’s completely understandable. I would be ticked off if the Barons left my city too but I wouldn’t stop liking the ChiSox as my fave AL team!
Anywho .. GO BRAVES! I hope you have a great season in AA, Luis! Big year for ATL coming up. That lineup is AMAZING looking .. and the pitching has been DOMINATING all spring.
Prado, McLouth, Chipper, McCann, Uggla, Heyward, A-Gonz, & Freeman? Potentially 20 homers up and down the lineup!
AAAAND a rotation of Hudson, Hanson, Lowe, Jurjjens and Beachy/Minor? Let‘s just say teams aren’t gonna be too confident in their ability to win a series going into a 4 game set!
Wooo! Two weeks till OPENING DAY!
Report Post »JEDI_GADSDEN
Posted on March 17, 2011 at 3:57pmI took a grounder to the groin when I was 7. That’s what happens when the coach puts the crappy kids in the outfield. Glad I still have my naughty bits. Baseball is dangerous. Big Brother needs to regulate it.
Report Post »OutOfTheAether
Posted on March 17, 2011 at 1:04pmSaw the same thing happen to a sister-in-law while watching a softball game from the team’s duguot. While standing in the opening, she caught a third-base line drive foul ball into the right side cheek bone. fractured the jaw and required many, many hours of dental reconstruction after that. Worst part about it was — it was my brother, her husband, that hit the foul ball
Report Post »outpost13
Posted on March 17, 2011 at 12:38pmThats ok baseball already has a blackeye from all the steroids in baseball.
Report Post »mrsmileyface
Posted on March 17, 2011 at 10:44amNo progressives wont ban the game they will change the game accordingly. Instead of a batter hitting the ball teams will have versions of Congressman Weiner to berate and belittle the ball so it can easily be tapped safely to the infield.
Report Post »Bigliardi
Posted on March 17, 2011 at 10:17amWatch for the progressives to call for a ban on baseball…..
Report Post »MAULEMALL
Posted on March 17, 2011 at 9:23amWhen they left Richmond Va over a new FREE field I said Eff Em…
GO BRAVES,,, And take thr effin hawks with you.
Report Post »Liberty7
Posted on March 18, 2011 at 2:11pmThanks for staying on point maulemall.
Report Post »mcFirst
Posted on March 17, 2011 at 9:09amget well soon. lesson learned for many little leaguers on safety. I will be more vigilant with my boys.
Report Post »moreteaplease
Posted on March 17, 2011 at 8:41amDiane TX
Posted on March 17, 2011 at 2:59am
Poor guy. The damage must have been extensive to his left eye. I only have vision in my right eye, so I know what it’s like. Judging distances can become a problem.
Report Post »*************************************************************************
I feel for him. I only have vision in my right eye do to an accident when I was 14. Yep, judging distance can be a challenge at times.
heavyduty
Posted on March 17, 2011 at 8:21amOk, now where is Obama? He should be banning future games until the cause of this accident and at least 50 new regulations be put in place to prevent such accidents from ever happening again. This is totally unacceptable. Where were the regulators of the game at? Probably watching porn on their computers while the game was being played. Obama also needs to ban all future games until a full investigation has been done and safety measures put into place to prevent such accidents. Also the manager should get at least a couple of million for the work missed, and stress of losing the eye.
Report Post »Tickdog
Posted on March 17, 2011 at 7:38amouch…
Report Post »grandmaof5
Posted on March 17, 2011 at 7:31amA mom in watching warm-ups in middle school took a line drive throw to the eye and it was permanatly damaged (retina stays open). I can’t even imagine taking a line drive. I pray that his face heals quickly and he will continue to coach for a long time, and also for the player who must feel terrible. Wrong place at the wrong time.
Report Post »kickagrandma
Posted on March 17, 2011 at 7:14amGood Morning all~~~ Well, LORD, here we are again giving thanks in all things….YOU really are stretching us out, aren’t YOU? That’s good because we need stretching in YOU, in our faith. So, here we go….
LORD JESUS, we give YOU thanks in all things. We thank YOUR for this injury. LORD, it’s really tough to say, “Thank YOU for a lost eye, but GOD YOU tell us to do that…YOU know the part about “in all things”, so we do thank YOU for that even though we don’t understand or grasp the significance of being able to say “thank YOU” when bad things happen. But, we want to be obedient to YOU more than we want to be socially or politically correct. We thank YOU that lives were saved, that people reacted quickly to help, that help was available to get (in spite of our country’s non-leadership…just want to be sure YOU are paying attention to what’s going on down here, LORD). Thank YOU FATHER GOD for the talent, for the sport, for the joy of baseball and for life. Forgive us when we mess up. Help us heal. Help us bring to YOUR cross all our mistakes and all our errors, and even all our hits. We love YOU LORD. We ask this in JESUS’ name, amen!
Report Post »larman
Posted on March 17, 2011 at 6:32amYour heart has to go out to both of them. Im hope he has a speedy recovery.
Report Post »http://www.larryfalco.com
crazytalk
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 12:56amMy son ruptured his retina shaggin foam balls at an indoor practice in HS. 20/300 in that eye, and 20/15 in the other. Had surgery and has a scleral buckle. Never had good depth perception after. Eye injuries are horrible.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on March 17, 2011 at 5:27amFor him, after he lost the eye, I hope a swift recovery is granted by the Almighty. This will indeed be one event no one involved will forget.
Report Post »SilentReader
Posted on March 17, 2011 at 3:50amTragic.
Report Post »GeneralBeasley
Posted on March 17, 2011 at 3:32amwas the ball hit by Charlie Sheen, ya know he was in major league
Report Post »Diane TX
Posted on March 17, 2011 at 2:59amPoor guy. The damage must have been extensive to his left eye. I only have vision in my right eye, so I know what it’s like. Judging distances can become a problem.
Report Post »kickagrandma
Posted on March 17, 2011 at 7:40am@ DIANE TX ~~~ left you a message re your dog on another post…. hope you find it and hope it helps!
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on March 17, 2011 at 2:45amI hope Obama doesn’t outlaw baseball.
Report Post »Do you think he’ll get a baseball czar?
Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on March 17, 2011 at 6:47amIt would not suprise me in the least.
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on March 17, 2011 at 2:41amI just hate that happened! I know McCann is sick over it, even though things like that happen in sports.
Heal fast, Salazar! Go BRAVES!!!
Report Post »NE12012
Posted on March 17, 2011 at 2:19amGet well soon Luis! GO BRAVES!
Report Post »sissykatz
Posted on March 17, 2011 at 2:38amDitto.
Report Post »