Alex Avila's Mask Hit By Foul Tip, Sparks Fly In Tigers-White Sox Game (VIDEO)

According to baseball slang, a pitcher who throws with velocity in the mid to upper 90s is known as a "flamethrower" or a "fireballer." The adjective "blazing" is sometimes used to describe their fastballs, which are themselves known as "heaters." As in, "Forget about the curve ball Ricky, give 'em the heater."

Tigers ace Justin Verlander is such a flamethrower. But the sparks didn't start flying during the Tigers' game against the White Sox on Tuesday at U.S. Cellular Field until after Verlander's seven shutout frames. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Detroit relief pitcher Joaquin Benoit hurled a fastball and Chicago's A.J. Pierzynski foul tipped it. The ball struck Tigers catcher Alex Avila's mask, causing sparks to fly and Twitter to explode.

According to Chris Iott of MLive.com, Avila didn't have any idea what reporters were talking about when he was asked to comment on the play.

Then he saw the replay.

"That was ridiculous. That was like a firecracker coming off my mask," Avila said, via Jason Beck of MLB.com. Scroll down to watch the video.

WATCH: (Video via MLB.com)

Take a look at some Twitter reactions:

Alex Avila is so tough his stubble causes sparks from foul tip balls off his mask. #MLB #Tigersless than a minute ago via Twitter for Android Favorite Retweet ReplyDirk Button
bossman101

Alex Avila Is On Fire -- No, seriously...he is. Two .gifs of pure danger. http://t.co/nNxbGYv via @sbnbaseballless than a minute ago via Tweet Button Favorite Retweet Replyrobneyer
robneyer

Alex Avila is lucky his mask didn't catch on fire. #Tigers #Sparkless than a minute ago via Twitter for iPhone Favorite Retweet ReplyCory Thornton
cordog85

"Foul Tip Creates Sparks On Alex Avila's Catcher's Mask " http://t.co/YZUXfvy I'm not convinced it was his mask, maybe he's a cyborg...less than a minute ago via web Favorite Retweet ReplyMatt Black
mblackmn

Comments

[plzchuteme]

07:14 AM on 09/15/2011

Remember, it was Pierzynski that was the batter and he made contact. I'd be checking the bat and patting down A.J., though, for all things that A.J. is and does, I never thought of him as being, "electrifying."

[AJ Woodruff]

04:41 AM on 09/15/2011

Great, now that one mask sparked they'll probably make the old catcher masks illegal to use anymore!

[dcwbys4ever]

04:36 AM on 09/15/2011

I Personally was a Catcher for 21 yrs and yeah in college as well as that too and I know that was a stinger to the head and thoughts. Like getting hit by a semi truck !!! lol glad he's ok

[leavesbound]

02:23 AM on 09/15/2011

I am not saying for certain that this IS what happened but one possible explaination is that the ball picked up a speck of sand and as it glanced the catchers mask it sparked.

[Scully321]

12:10 AM on 09/15/2011

Every sport has its' dangers, that's why the catcher wears a mask! Sorry he was hurt! Imagine the damage if he didn't! A total accident, unintentional, part of the risk you take making THE BIG BUCKS for playing a normally injureless game! Football is 100 times more chances of being injured,and much more seriously! I hope Alex Avila is OK and that's the name of the game! GOD Bless!

[King Owl]

11:38 PM on 09/14/2011

He was channeling Sparky Anderson

[NAVRETRD]

10:35 PM on 09/14/2011

Static electric spark ?

[Danmcc455]

12:40 AM on 09/15/2011

Discharged by a ball? Normally electric discharge is a whiter light than that, that was definitely a spark of metal. Maybe a weak weld broke and scraped the spark off.

[gschott748]

10:30 PM on 09/14/2011

It looks like the batted ball, hit on the front of the mask, and broke a weld, or it was broken before this game i bet. When the ball hit the broken weld it caused a spark from the metal rubbing together. Since the sparks came from the middle of the metal rods, the paint would not have made a difference.

[esaustew]

10:16 PM on 09/14/2011

Oooop, there it is.

[Michael L Roenicke]

10:05 PM on 09/14/2011

That 'ranks right up there with the home plate umpire I saw at an Angels game in the 70's that took a fast ball right in the groin. He sat down right on top of home plate for about 5 minutes, until he was able to continue. That's why the hard cup was invented.

[ccasey1938]

09:08 AM on 09/15/2011

LOL....that happened to me umpiring Little League.....It felt as though Bob Feller was on the mound.....I did a twirl and in doing so saw all the people in the bleachers.....I waited until the game was over and went home to yell about the pain....My wife thought it was hilarious of course......ROFL...

[cloud567]

09:57 PM on 09/14/2011

In an unrelated note, Avila is having an amazing year. In a couple of years I think he'll be a household name, dude is just that talented. Oh, and he takes more punishment behind the plate then I think I have ever seen a catcher take. My favorite Tiger this year (and playing with Justin Verlander, that's saying something).

[stdman]

09:28 PM on 09/14/2011

so what!!!! i walked 3 miles to school on one leg in a broken glass field!

[Bert Morgan]

09:01 PM on 09/14/2011

Bet that hurt like hell!

[mwnyy]

08:38 PM on 09/14/2011

Is it me or my computer, but every time something has a video to watch, I can't seem to get the video to play.

[brdy481]

09:51 PM on 09/14/2011

ur a dumazz

[AlyceMD3]

10:20 PM on 09/14/2011

It's us!

[Andy n]

08:32 PM on 09/14/2011

I think the mask is "made in china".Lol