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Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Denard Span of Minnesota Twins hits mother with foul ball

I always thought LASIK sounded like a targeting system…

Minnesota Twins outfielder Denard Span hit a foul ball that struck his mother in the chest in the first inning of Wednesday’s spring training game against the New York Yankees…

Span stayed near while paramedics treated her. The game was delayed for a few minutes before Wilson was helped to her feet and walked out of the stands under her own power to be taken for first aid…

Wilson was back in the seats by the bottom of the first inning, but was later taken to a hospital. Span left the game to accompany her to the hospital.

The District Attorney Posted: March 31, 2010 at 06:28 PM | 27 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: twins

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1. JMPH Posted: March 31, 2010 at 07:09 PM (#3489716)

That's so horrible. I hope she's all right.

2. Lassus Posted: March 31, 2010 at 07:14 PM (#3489726)

Now that's bad luck.

3. WillYoung Posted: March 31, 2010 at 07:16 PM (#3489727)

I was at an Orioles-Twins game in OTPaCY a few years ago when an Oriole (Larry Bigbie or Jay Gibbons, I think) hit his wife with a foul ball just above the screen behind home plate.

4. robinred

Posted: March 31, 2010 at 07:23 PM (#3489739)

This is funny, but it's really not.

5. Shooty: Applying to be Fearless Leader

Posted: March 31, 2010 at 07:24 PM (#3489741)

This is funny, but it's really not.

Right. It's only funny if Span is a taxidermist in his spare time.

6. JMPH Posted: March 31, 2010 at 07:35 PM (#3489770)

I was at an Orioles-Twins game in OTPaCY a few years ago when an Oriole (Larry Bigbie or Jay Gibbons, I think) hit his wife with a foul ball just above the screen behind home plate.

It was Gibbons.

"She's just a little bruised up. She's going to be OK," Gibbons said Sunday.

Out of context, that's a really unfortunate thing to have said about your wife.

7. Bob Dernier Cri

Posted: March 31, 2010 at 07:36 PM (#3489774)

He should have her children taken away from her.

8. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Griffin (Vlad) Posted: March 31, 2010 at 07:37 PM (#3489781)

Now that's bad luck.

Or good bat control, plus some issues.

9. God Posted: March 31, 2010 at 07:39 PM (#3489784)

Is this where we bring up the story that Richie Ashburn once hit a woman with a foul ball and then, as she was being carried away on a stretcher, fouled off the next pitch and hit her again?

10. JoeHova Posted: March 31, 2010 at 07:41 PM (#3489788)

That's so horrible. I hope she's all right.

Agreed.

On a somewhat related (but nowhere near as serious) note, my brother once hit a foul ball in a little league game that broke my dad's windshield. That was funny, especially since a previous batter had hit a foul ball off of his car's roof. Needless to say, he didn't park in the lot next to the diamond anymore after that game.

edit: this sounds kind of like the Ashburn story above but I swear it happened. I can't say for certain that it was the batter directly preceding my brother in the order that hit the first ball or a couple batters before him, it's been too long, but either way it was comical.

11. Pasta-diving Jeter (jmac66) Posted: March 31, 2010 at 07:41 PM (#3489790)

Didn't Steve Sax bean Olbermann's mother twice with errant throws to first?

EDIT--it wasn't Sax, it was Knoblauch (and it only happened once apparently)

(you gotta admit my story is better, though)

12. Shooty: Applying to be Fearless Leader

Posted: March 31, 2010 at 07:44 PM (#3489798)

Didn't Steve Sax bean Olberman's mother twice with errant throws to first?

No, it was Steve Garvey and it wasn't errant throws he beaned her with.

13. JMPH Posted: March 31, 2010 at 07:45 PM (#3489800)

Didn't Steve Sax bean Olberman's mother twice with errant throws to first?

EDIT--it wasn't Sax, it was Knoblauch (and it only happened once apparently)

(you gotta admit my story is better, though)

It would have explained why Sax was arrested during his time in Springfield.

14. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Griffin (Vlad) Posted: March 31, 2010 at 07:49 PM (#3489810)

On a somewhat related (but nowhere near as serious) note, my brother once hit a foul ball in a little league game that broke my dad's windshield. That was funny, especially since a previous batter had hit a foul ball off of his car's roof.

One time when I was in little league, a kid on my team hit a foul ball that went through the (open) sun roof on a car driving past the field.

He didn't stop, didn't even slow down.

15. RJ in TO Posted: March 31, 2010 at 07:54 PM (#3489821)

Why should he? He just got a free baseball.

16. JMPH Posted: March 31, 2010 at 07:55 PM (#3489822)

When I was playing ball in high school, a buddy of mine hit a foul ball that hit a shed in one of the neighboring yards, breaking a window. My friend raised his hands above his head in mock triumph, and said "yeah!" Unfortunately, the shed's owner was outside at the time, and screamed toward the field, "What's so funny?" He called the cops, who, of course, couldn't do anything about it. He did convince them to ticket every possible parking violation in the neighborhood, though, leading to my parents getting a parking ticket for parking too close to an intersection.

17. Shooty: Applying to be Fearless Leader

Posted: March 31, 2010 at 07:55 PM (#3489823)

Why should he? He just got a free baseball.

Or maybe it was a ghost car.

18. JMPH Posted: March 31, 2010 at 08:04 PM (#3489839)

Denard Span's mom returned to her seat.

19. Cris E Posted: March 31, 2010 at 08:18 PM (#3489867)

"After the delay, Span returned to the plate and looked at a called third strike from Hughes, remaining in the game. He exited after the top of the third, going 0-for-2."

So it turns out here's a good way to get out a tough lead-off hitter: stick his mom in the stands, pitch him so he hits her with a foul ball and voila, instant distracted hitter. It's so simple once history lays it out for you, like Collect Underwear...Profit!

20. Rich Rifkin Posted: March 31, 2010 at 08:19 PM (#3489869)

Now that's bad luck.

Or good bat control, plus some issues.

Span does have good bat control. He also has excellent plate discipline, especially for a player with less than 2 seasons in the majors. In his 1,087 major league PAs, he's already got 120 walks. That's better than Barry Bonds after an equal amount of time in the majors, though Span is much older than Bonds was 2 years into his major league career. ... The anti-Span in major league history (who I saw from the start of his career in Oakland) was Rob Picciolo. Peach had 1,720 PAs. His career walk total was 25. His OPS+ was 56, 4 points lower than Carlos Zambrano's.

21. WSPanic Posted: March 31, 2010 at 08:57 PM (#3489917)

I was at a bar eating lunch and that game was just starting - the sound was not on. I wasn't sure if someone was seriously injured, or if he knew them and was just concerned.

Was kind of humorous seeing everyone being escorted up the stairs wearing Span jerseys. His mom walked up to the concourse under her own power, so I don't feel bad about laughing a little about it. Our initial thoughts were, "what are the chances he hits the only two people in the stands wearing Span gear?"

22. Random Transaction Generator Posted: March 31, 2010 at 09:09 PM (#3489933)

Ashburn story
(but not a first person account)

23. retro-shiite Posted: March 31, 2010 at 09:51 PM (#3489988)

His OPS+ was 56, 4 points lower than Carlos Zambrano's.

With his 4 homers last year, Big Z also passed Picciolo in career HRs (20-17).

24. Willie Mayspedes Posted: March 31, 2010 at 10:09 PM (#3490011)

#22 The best part is how the writer cared more about that random event he never saw than the "home run king".

25. Biff isn't really an apt handle anymore Posted: March 31, 2010 at 10:19 PM (#3490016)

Unfortunately, the shed's owner was outside at the time, and screamed toward the field, "What's so funny?"

He's probably just upset that his nickname is "Two Sheds" for no apparent reason.

26. RMc is the loyal supporter of the MLB event Posted: March 31, 2010 at 11:08 PM (#3490066)

I'm shocked no one has mentioned this yet:

(Bob) Feller's mother was struck over the eye while she watched him pitch on Mother's Day in 1939. This injury occurred in the third inning while Feller was pitching to White Sox third baseman Marv Owen.

This game.

27. spycake Posted: April 02, 2010 at 06:13 PM (#3491273)

This is much more humorous if one reads it as "Denard Span hits motherf----r with foul ball"

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Denard Span of Minnesota Twins hits mother with foul ball

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