There are few moments in sports scarier than seeing a baseball player get hit in the head with a line drive. Seeing a small projectile zipping along in the neighborhood of 100 mph, then hearing the sickening thwack of ball on bone is probably one of the hardest things to stomach. I was happy to see Sunday that I'm not alone in that category. Padres' pitcher Chris Young, who was nailed in the face by an Albert Pujols liner last year, had some harsh words for the way ESPN and other networks covered Giants' reliever Joe Martinez getting hit by a Mike Cameron liner earlier this week.
"It's not something to view over and over for entertainment purposes," Young said. "Guys crashing into each other, that's not a blooper. A guy getting hit in the head is not a blooper. You shouldn't wish that on anybody or take pleasure in seeing it.Like Young, I've been hit by a line drive before and it's not fun. It's certainly not a highlight and in all likelihood, it's something that will stick with Martinez for the rest of his career, no matter how full his recovery is.
"I have a problem when ESPN runs it over and over. It's insensitive."
