IN MY SHOES: What It’s Like To Get Hit In The Head By A Major-League Pitch
Outfielder Adam Greenberg, a 5’ 9", 180-pound Jewish kid from Guilford, CT, who grew up rooting for the Bronx Bombers, had steadily worked his way through Little League, Legion ball, high-school ball, college ball and the minor leagues. In July 2005, the 24 year-old got the big news that the Chicago Cubs were calling him up from its Double A farm club in TN. The New York Times Sunday Magazine tells the operatic story of Greenberg’s debut:
"Greenie, get a bat, you’re hitting for the pitcher," Dick Pole, the bench coach, told him in the top of the ninth. The Cubs were up 4-2 over the Florida Marlins. …
As Adam left the dugout, he wrapped his hands around his favorite bat, a Zinger model X53, a 34-incher with a black head and a cherry handle. …
In the on-deck circle, Greenberg concentrated on the pitcher, the injury-plagued veteran left-hander Valerio de los Santos. Like any good hitter, he used the vantage point to study the flow and twist of the pitcher’s motion and the release point of the ball. …
A major-league fastball takes less than half a second to travel the 60 feet 6 inches from a pitcher’s hand to home plate. This one was moving at 91 miles per hour, which isn’t particularly brisk … yet the ball’s errant path toward Greenberg’s head seemed so utterly unavoidable that it was as if the pitch had been misaligned by some magnetic force …
As he instinctively spun away, Greenberg was hit behind the right ear, with part of the impact on his helmet and the rest on his skull. An imprint from the curved stitching of the baseball would remain stamped on his skin for days. His eyeballs floated upward, but he didn’t lose consciousness … He was sure his skull must have split open, and as he rolled on his back with his knees in the air, he held his head between his hands, trying to keep anything from leaking out. …
It took more than a minute before Greenberg sat up. The trainers asked him: How many fingers? What’s your name? Where are you? … Where were you two days ago? He replied to that one with a smile. "I was in the minor leagues, and I’m not going back."
This quick-witted reply was a relief to everyone at the time. But the answer has turned out to be sadly untrue. … Adam Greenberg’s biggest moment lasted only a half second.
It may be the entirety of his major-league career.
Editorial Note: Passover (Pesach) begins tonight at sundown. The Stiletto wishes a Happy Passover to her Jewish friends and readers.
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