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Friday, July 17, 1998
Frightening injury jolts Astros
By BOB BAUM / AP Sports Writer
PHOENIX (AP) -- There are few moments in sports more frightening
than the one that silenced the big Bank One Ballpark crowd.
Billy Wagner, ace reliever for the Houston Astros, was felled
by a line drive to the head in the ninth inning Wednesday night.
The ball careened nearly to the Arizona Diamondbacks' dugout.
Wagner collapsed on his back, his legs flopping wildly.
"It's a pitcher's worst nightmare," said his close
friend, Houston pitcher Mike Magnante. "You just hope it
never happens."
Many in the crowd of 42,229 stood. Spectators covered their
mouths in shock. Players from both teams crowded around the fallen
pitcher. Second baseman Craig Biggio noticed a patch of blood
below Wagner's ear.
"I was just praying that he was all right," Houston
manager Larry Dierker said, "and so was everybody else."
Amazingly for anyone who saw the blow, either in person or
on ESPN's telecast, Wagner wasn't seriously injured. He was rushed
to St. Joseph's Medical Center, where he underwent a series of
neurological tests before being released Thursday afternoon.
Wagner suffered a cut near his left ear, but sustained no brain
injury or skull fracture, according to a news release from the
hospital's Barrow Neurological Institute.
The statement, attributed to Dr. Curtis Dickman, Wagner's neurosurgeon,
said the pitcher should be fine in a week or two.
"I talked to Billy this morning and he sounded tired,"
Astros general manager Gerry Hunsicker said. "He has some
dizziness and headaches but the big news today is that Billy Wagner
is on the mend and he escaped serious injury."
Hunsicker said the Astros weren't considering placing Wagner
on the disabled list.
The Astros lost the game 9-8 in 11 innings, but could not have
cared less. In the silence of the Houston locker room after the
game, there was only quiet concern for Wagner and an unstated
realization that this is a game that has the potential for serious
injury or worse.
"You throw the ball 98 mph and it comes right back at
you. I don't know," Biggio said. "My thoughts right
now are with Billy, and we don't care about anything else."
Mike Hampton, the pitcher who had started the game, couldn't
talk to reporters. He sat in the chair in front of his locker,
sobbing.
Wagner is among the most popular of the Astros. The 5-foot-11
left-hander always sprints to the mound, jumping over the foul
line along the way. He throws hard, consistently in the upper
90s.
Arizona's Kelly Stinnett caught one of those fastballs and
sent it right back up the middle. Wagner tried to get his glove
up. But, standing just 60 feet, 6 inches away, he didn't quite
make it.
"It's scary as hell," said Magnante, who was watching
from the bullpen. "We were 350 feet away and we couldn't
do anything except for what everybody else was doing, which was
watching and praying. I got to talk to him right before they put
him in the ambulance. He just asked me to tell his wife that he
was fine."
Back in Houston, Wagner's wife Sarah is eight months' pregnant
with their first child.
"You know they were being very cautious but he was awake
and he was talking," Magnante said.
A medical team immobilized Wagner's head and placed him on
a stretcher before driving him off the field on a cart.
"It was an unfortunate thing. Hopefully, he's doing well,"
Stinnett said. "You always talk about guys hitting the ball
up the middle. It's part of the game."
Magnante had to go out and pitch after seeing his best friend
taken away in an ambulance. He ended up taking the loss.
"You have to put it out of your mind," Magnante said.
"I thought about it a couple of times out there when I'm
facing Matt Williams and we're calling a sinker away. But the
bottom line is you've just got to believe it's not going to happen,
or else you can't play in the game."
There have been several such incidents in baseball.
Earlier this year, Baltimore pitcher Mike Mussina had his nose
broken and face bloodied by a line drive off the bat of Cleveland's
Sandy Alomar.
Last year, Arizona's Willie Blair -- then with Detroit -- had
his jaw broken when struck by a smash from Cleveland's Julio Franco.
The liner was clocked at 107 mph.
Blair didn't want to talk about it after seeing Wagner get
hit.
In the Arizona locker room, there was little celebration of
the victory.
"We compete on the field but we're all a fraternity here,"
said Williams, one of the first to rush to Wagner's side. "We
don't want to see anyone get hurt.
"As hard as he throws and Kelly took a good swing at it...
I saw Willie get hit last year. It's not pretty."
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