An MLB umpire was hospitalized after being hit by a ball but has this happened before?

Baseball fans bore witness to a scary moment during Wednesday’s series finale between the Cleveland Guardians and the New York Yankees at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio. Thankfully the man involved in the unfortunate incident came out of walking on his own steam.

Umpire Larry Vanover hit in the head by baseball

If you caught Wednesday’s game between the Guardians and the Yankees, then you were probably given a jump like the rest of us when second base umpire, Larry Vanover was struck in the head by a relay throw from Guardians second baseman Andrés Giménez in the fifth inning. Though he was able to take to his feet after initially going to ground, Vanover had to be escorted off of the field. To be clear, there was no intent on Giménez’s part it was simply a case of Vanover being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Is Larry Vanover OK?

Speaking with the media, Umpire Chris Guccione disclosed that Vanover had a “pretty good-sized knot” on his head and was unaware that he had been hit by a baseball. Indeed, video of the incident showed him to disoriented as he was helped off the field. It is understood that he is currently undergoing tests at a local hospital.

“They’re going to do a concussion test and it sounded like he was coherent and that he knew kind of what was going on,” Guccione said. “But he did have that glazed look on him. He’s going to be at the hospital for the rest of the night maybe. That was scary. Very hard to focus after that after you see a colleague get hit. But they gave me updates and I was like, ‘Alright. He’s good. He’s in safe hands.’ So, we moved on.” Interestingly, where the play itself is concerned, Giménez was officially charged with an error after Kyle Higashioka’s hit, which eventually led to two runs scoring on the play due to Vanover being struck. In the end the Yankees won the game 4-3.

Has this happened to an MLB umpire before?

Though you might think this happens often in baseball, thankfully it doesn’t. One memorable occasion on which something similar occurred was back in 2013 during a game between the St. Louis Cardinals and believe it or not, the New York Yankees. On that day, umpire Ed Hickox was having a tough game with several of his calls being questioned, when he was hit in the face by a 99mph fastball from Cardinals pitcher, Ryan Hensley. Indeed, though he suffered broken bones, it’s safe to say that we’re he not wearing a mask, things would have been much worse. Ultimately, both scenarios serve as a reminder of just how hard MLB players can throw a ball.