Thursday, July 26, 2007

What Is Going On With These Ball Related Deaths?

On Monday, I wrote about minor league baseball coach Mike Coolbaugh being killed by a line drive hit into the dugout. Tragically, another person has died as the result of being hit in the head by a ball. This time it involved a 12-year-old girl that was hit in the head by a softball.

"A 12-year-old softball player suffered a brain injury when she was hit in the head with a ball during practice, and died a day later, police and family said.

Margaret Ruth "Maggie" Hilbrands was hit during a routine infield drill on Monday -- a day after the death of a minor-league baseball coach who was struck by a line drive in Arkansas. The Grand Rapids girl died Tuesday at DeVos Children's Hospital.

'She missed the ball. It appears it hit her in the wrong spot. She never regained consciousness,' her mother, Jan Hilbrands, told The Grand Rapids Press.

The ball struck her head, producing a brain injury that caused her heart to temporarily stop, police and family told the paper. Rescuers performed CPR at the scene."

Two freak accidents involving people being hit by a baseball/softball and subsequently dying. Damn, what the heck is going on here? As an attempt to inject a bit of humor into an otherwise tragic event, I'll tell you that I blame Dice-K's gyroball. That thing has screwed something up here in the U.S., and hopefully Simpsonsized Manny and his hairdresser can get to the bottom of it.

Seriously, condolences go out to the Hilbrands family.

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