David Huff Hit In Head By Alex Rodriguez Line Drive

(AP) NEW YORK — Indians pitcher David Huff was hit above the left ear by Alex Rodriguez's line drive Saturday and taken to a hospital, where a CT scan was negative.

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The Indians said Huff never lost consciousness or experienced memory loss. He will remain at New York-Presbyterian Hospital for several hours as a precaution.

Huff immediately fell to the ground and lay motionless on his stomach after Rodriguez's drive – on Huff's 50th pitch – hit him and ricocheted into right field for an RBI double with one out in the third inning.

Trainers from both teams and players on the field ran to the mound. Rodriguez took a knee behind the mound and slammed his helmet. He remained there with his head bowed for a minute before going into the dugout.

After 6 minutes, trainers helped Huff onto his back and put him on a board with a neck brace. He gave a thumbs up and raised a hand to a huge ovation while being carted off the field.

Aaron Laffey relieved with runners on second and third after a delay of about 9 minutes and gave up a sacrifice fly to Robinson Cano.

Huff gave up three runs and five hits in 2 1-3 innings.

The Indians responded with three runs to tie it 3-all in the top of the fourth, with help from a ball that hit off CC Sabathia's right foot and rolled between first and second to the grass in right field for a single.

Sabathia raised his hands in disbelief, shook his foot and went back to work but appeared to have been spooked by Austin Kearns' hit so soon after Huff's injury.

Kearns advanced on a wild pitch and Jhonny Peralta walked before Sabathia struck out Shelley Duncan. Mark Gruduzielanek singled in a run then Matt LaPorta, batting .210 coming in, hit a two-run double to the wall in left-center.

WARNING: UNSETTLING FOOTAGE

Comments

[JacksonHts]

12:30 AM on 06/02/2010

HP Sports, where you can watch videos of an NBA coach vomiting and of a pitcher being hit in the head with a line drive.....

[nickclone]

04:17 AM on 06/01/2010

Wow, another reason to hate A-Rod.

[sloreader]

04:38 PM on 05/31/2010

What a nightmare. Hope the young man has all the help he needs recovering from that one.

[ConjureMan]

12:10 PM on 05/31/2010

I just glanced at the headline for this, and stopped to remember the great Her Score>

[ontariogirl]

10:15 AM on 05/31/2010

I got beaned a few times playing as a kid. I hope this pitcher is ok?

[jingles32]

11:32 AM on 06/02/2010

He's fine. Amazingly, all tests negative; he was out the hospital, back at the stadium the same day, and may pitch his next scheduled start!

[ABQ-Mike]

10:12 AM on 05/31/2010

When will these brutal and dangerous "sports" like baseball be banned forever by our government­? How much longer will the government tolerate these constant and pointless injuries? We the people demand protection­. If games like baseball are to be allowed, perhaps the government should redefine the rules to permit only wiffle balls to be used and styrofoam bats. What is government for, to protect our freedoms or guarantee our safety? The answer is obvious, isn't it?

[l2ealest]

12:42 PM on 05/31/2010

I demand the government make sidewalks out of pillows.

[rview]

08:42 PM on 05/31/2010

The government should stay out of our business. After the government starting meddling in baseball by banning steriods and other performanc­e enhancemen­t drugs I haven't caught as many home run balls and the players are a lot smaller and harder to see from the outfield stands.

[Tails]

12:14 AM on 06/01/2010

I'm with you.

Well, Prince Fielder and Carlos Lee are still visible from space, but you make a good point.

Ironic because I enjoy watching the dimunitive Lincecum own every batter in sight.

[DungBeetle]

09:10 AM on 05/31/2010

The EMT's gut is resting on the pitchers forehead..­.

[zeeshan809]

07:16 AM on 05/31/2010

Oh boy, I hope he is fine now.

http://bit­.ly/ajMjWk

[rview]

05:12 AM on 05/31/2010

For the purist, the game has fundamenta­lly changed with the ball, bat, work out equipment, and sometime performanc­e enhancers. The game won't be compromise­d if the pitcher is required to wear a light hard hat or if a small shield is put in front of the mound. Look at the grand daddy of Cricket. They didn't have all that protective gear before.

More importantl­y, I think we should improve the design of the batter's helmet by guarding the face and making the side facing the pitcher protrude more. Batting helmet design's look awful. I think I can do it better myself.

[rickthaluddite]

03:49 PM on 05/31/2010

John Olerud always wore a helmet when he was fielding because of brain surgery he had when he was a kid.

[snoopbuzz]

01:40 AM on 05/31/2010

It is a serious injury and I wish him the best recovery.
Sports are brutal, always have been. I am sure if a marathon runner falls over with a heart attack, some people would comment that there should be something the government should do to stop this. I mean, why would anybody want to run when they have other modes of transporta­tion to get them to the finish line safer than running out in the hot sun dehydratin­g themselves­. Well, maybe with the computer generation they can make a virtual stadium and the players can play virtually, like a holideck in SNG.( not sure of the spelling of holideck ). But, until then, I will continue to sit out in the sun watching these amazing athletes put their lives on the line for the sake of their sport. There are a few sports that I am not too fond of, such as bull fighting, but I will not bash other sports for the sake of appearing indifferen­t.

[KriTiKiT]

03:18 AM on 05/31/2010

most brutal baseball accidents are caused because bats are corked.

[snoopbuzz]

03:39 AM on 05/31/2010

I am not going to dispute the bat corking facts. In fact the tone I used was not against any sport or misuse of equipment. It is a fact that people will do whatever they can to get an edge so that they are not replaced by someone else. Performanc­e enhancing is seen in any sport one way or another.

[Brian in FL]

03:43 PM on 06/01/2010

Or the ball was hit by a 'roided player!

[KriTiKiT]

11:22 PM on 05/30/2010

this happens to rarely but when it does, wow... I hope he is ok!

[KriTiKiT]

11:23 PM on 05/30/2010

I wonder why they didn't check a-rods bat... it happens more often when the bats are corked!

[Mabo]

11:44 PM on 05/30/2010

What does...? A line drive?

[moephoto]

09:33 PM on 05/30/2010

Pitchers should be wearing as much protection as catchers. As unpractica­l as that sounds, this accident is a good argument for it.

[Andrew Macdonald]

10:23 PM on 05/30/2010

No its not.

[ClearingtheAir2010]

11:24 PM on 05/30/2010

Ha. You're being just a tad reactionar­y and paternalis­tic. These guys get paid millions of dollars. It's part of the game, and it rarely happens.

[Tabasco]

08:42 PM on 05/30/2010

Top Republican­s are already gearing up to call for a full investigat­ion on Obama's apparent silence on this important matter of National Sports Security.

[Golfer59]

10:46 PM on 05/30/2010

Tabasco...­....I was thinking the same thing. I hope the guys okay.

[Mabo]

11:44 PM on 05/30/2010

Funny...I was waiting for the Democrats to blame Bush...

[VivaldiPickpocket]

06:57 PM on 05/31/2010

It clearly states that Huff pitches for the Cleveland Indians, and not for the Texas Rangers.

[kinoptikation]

08:07 PM on 05/30/2010

POW... that sucker bounced into to right field

[mccord82]

03:21 PM on 05/30/2010

WOW!!! What a hostile aswer from don...I never wanna see anyone get hurt, however, when a player signs up they're also signing up for the risks. And pitching and hockey are apples and oranges but I'm glad to see you are so passionate and seething. Congrats.