12/03/24
March 10, 2011
Braves Coach Knocked Out by Foul Ball: In the first inning of a spring training game Wednesday, Atlanta Braves minor league coach Luis Salazar was knocked out by a sharply hit foul ball as he stood on the top step of the dugout at the Braves' stadium at Disney World. Salazar was hit in the face and lay unconscious for 20 minutes, some players fearing he was dead. An ambulance was brought onto the field and took him to a helicopter. Salazar is recuperating in an Orlando hospital.
Doctors can't save Braves minor league manager's eye The former major league player had the eye removed during surgery Tuesday, the second surgery on the eye and third overall surgery Salazar had since being hit by a foul ball off the bat of Braves catcher Brian McCann in a spring-training game Wednesday.
posted by tommybiden at 01:51 PM on March 16, 2011
I was at this game. Brian McCann was batting left-handed and hit a screaming line drive into his teammates lined up atop the first base dugout. Players barely had time to throw up their arms or duck, and the ball careened off somebody and went back into the field. The way players dove to the dugout steps you could tell it was bad.
I could see into the dugout from a distance, and they were attending to somebody but the crowd didn't know who it was. I tried to gauge the severity from how players and coaches were reacting -- the Cardinals walked over to check on things. No one was praying, as players did when that fan fell out of the upper deck during a Rangers game, so I was hoping that was a good sign.
The ambulance and helicopter were pretty concerning, though.
McCann came back after the delay, struck out on a pitch he barely tried for, and took himself out of the game. No PA announcement was ever made, even when media reports were being filed that he had regained consciousness and was breathing on his own.