This happened in MSUBobcat territory:

What an awful thing for Brandon's family and teammates -- especially the poor kid who batted the ball...

[ July 26, 2003, 06:50 PM: Message edited by: redsoxbreath ]

I understand that a ball hit by an aluminum bat is traveling faster than a ball hit by a wooden bat. Thus, there is less time for a pitcher to respond.

Ironically, I was reading the Helena paper online yesterday for news of the forest fires in Glacier National Park. As I write this, the Helena Independent Record's website still says only that the player has been seriously injured. That will be a sad update.

http://www.helenair.com

It's amazing, considering how many teams at various levels use aluminum bats now, that this hasn't happened before or that there haven't been other serious injuries (like perhaps a batted ball shattering a bone in the pitcher's leg or forearm).

We had a similar incident here in Massachusetts two summers ago, when another 18-year-old recreational ballplayer (named Brendan) died after a collision with another outfielder, a close friend of his.

[Edited to add:] In response to his loss, Brendan Grant's family and community established an annual 5k race which raises funds to benefit charity and to provide a college scholarship to a graduating Belmont High School athlete "who possesses the same positive spirit and leadership skills for which Brendan was known. This year's Brendan Grant Scholarship was awarded to Charlie Synnott , a member of the Class of 2003."

Charlie Synnott was the other outfielder involved in the collision that led to Brendan's death. After living through such an awful tragedy, how fortunate he is to be surrounded and supported by such a loving community of friends. Let's hope the same is true for the surviving Helena player.

[ July 26, 2003, 10:03 PM: Message edited by: redsoxbreath ]

I remember the post here about that.

It would be far easier to live with this because it
was an accident. Imagine a pitcher beaning someone
and permanently injuring or killing him, that would
be tough to live with.

In time, the player who batted the ball could learn
to live with this and accept that it wasn't his fault.
Hopefully he does.


Bob Dog

Joe, the updated story in the Helena News states that "according to a CBS News report, 17 amateur and pro players were killed by batted balls between 1991 and 2001. Two hits came off wooden bats and eight off aluminum bats. The rest are unknown." -- and this is not counting tragedies like the one in Massachusetts two years ago when the teenage outfielder died after colliding with the center fielder, who happened to be his best friend.

My heart goes out to the family and friends of both the deceased 18 year old pitcher along with the batter....the article states that the Helena Senators GM asked that the Helena player who hit the ball not be identified....I hope he is able to deal with this unfortunate accident and that aluminum bats (both at the college and professional levels) will be a thing of the past sometime soon....what makes these tragedies even more heartbreaking is the realization that the overwhelming majority of them could have been prevented were it not for the monetary reasons that are causing these teams and leagues to continue to insist upon using aluminum bats.