Close Call

In baseball there are always lots of close calls, but tonight was a close call of a different kind. I was hitting infield to my team during practice. I turned my back to reach for another baseball. I heard my catcher say in a calm voice, "Look out." No sooner had I heard that when the baseball hit me about two inches from the elbow in the forearm. It hit so hard that it buckled my knees. I immediately went to the dugout almost passing out on the way. I also became nauseous almost immediately.

My daughter was there and drove me to the ER. They x-rayed the elbow and praise God it was not broken. Two inches north and it would have crushed my elbow. That is not a good thing for a drummer to have his right arm rendered immobile! Once I got my head together, the first thing I thought of was our show this Saturday night. The second thing I thought about was my trip to be with the Long Beach church and the Pepperdine lectures. Strange what goes through your mind in traumatic situations.

What I learned through this: 1. Never turn your back on 13-14 year olds with baseballs in their hands. 2. I learned that I need to teach my catcher how to say "heads up!" and to protect the coach at all times!!

The young man that through the ball was visibly upset about it. So before I left for the hospital I asked who threw he ball. No one said anything. I then told them that whoever it was, they had a great arm. I thought a little humor would allow him to be more calm about it. I called him from the hospital and he apologized over and over again. He is a good kid.