Safety and Youth Baseball

by buckeye22fox on Apr 22, 2010 10:30 PM EDT

I haven't really had the opportunity to post in a while due to work obligations. I'm in town back to Cincinnati for a short bit to support my family. As you might have seen on the news, my brother Aaron Fox was involved in an accident on the playing field on Thursday night. I know a good bit of commenters here have family involved in youth sports or that will be involved shortly. I played all levels of Knothole baseball growing up and all the way up to my college days. Baseball has been very important to me and my family. It has never really been a thought to wear protection in the field for youth pitchers and infielders. I wanted to take this opportunity to raise awareness, in the wake of Aaron's injury, of the need for youth baseball and softball players to wear head protection in the field. Two weeks ago if you asked me if pitchers should wear helmets, I would have made a John Olerud joke. But the fact of the matter is that youth pitchers in Aaron's league pitch from 50 feet away (45 feet after delivery) and the batters use aluminum bats. It was a freak injury that occurred, but more could be done in youth baseball to prevent these injuries. You can visit the charity playfor4.org and read more about it.

Paul Toti and Channel 12 were magnificent with her professionalism and respect for the family. Channel 9 interviewed me and I was less impressed with their portrayal of the story. While Scott Wegener was very nice and professional in person, he seemed to imply that Aaron should have known better and worn head protection while pitching. I know Bill Cunningham is a controversial figure around Cincinnati but he did a wonderful job addressing the situation on his radio show.

I have posted here about my little brother before. Chris Welsh was supposed to say something on air about Aaron but I didn't get a chance to catch the game. Did anyone catch that segment?

I contacted the Reds PR department and they have promised me and my family that their community fund manager is aware of the situation and the Reds will do something for my brother. I'll keep you guys posted if and when they do stuff Aaron. If you are the facebook kind of person, I'm running a facebook page for him and one of his 12-year-old peers at school started a fanpage for him.

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yikes

I hope your brother will be okay.

All Things Bubba: Because how can you not love a baseball player named Bubba?

by BubbaFan on Apr 22, 2010 11:40 PM EDT reply actions

I hope your brother is okay

and yes Welsh mentioned that a cincinnati boy was injured while playing baseball and was in the hospital as a result. He didn’t go into a great amount of detail but I remember it.

I hope you are your family are okay.

I hate Dusty Baker so goddamn much.

by justin007000 on Apr 23, 2010 12:38 AM EDT reply actions

I'm goin to rec this so it sticks at the top

this seems like a message that needs to be spread.

I hate Dusty Baker so goddamn much.

by justin007000 on Apr 23, 2010 12:38 AM EDT reply actions

I always hate hearing about this kind of stuff

hope your brother pulls through

by sharks2 on Apr 23, 2010 1:41 AM EDT reply actions

welsh said something like "hope you're back on the baseball field soon, aaron."

Baseball worshiped here.

by Daedalus on Apr 23, 2010 8:52 AM EDT reply actions

Hope everything turns out well!

"People don't kill people. Burning oreo packages kill people."

by crolfer on Apr 23, 2010 9:02 AM EDT reply actions

This sounds so scary. All of my best wishes for your brother to get well soon.

Hopefully people will wise up and start wearing proper head gear. When I was a kid, no one ever wore helmets when skiing, and now most all of the kids have them. Good for you, for taking this opportunity to try to prevent this from happening to anyone else.

This team wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for all the losing.

by andromache on Apr 23, 2010 9:47 AM EDT reply actions

Praying for your brother to pull through just fine

What will it take for little leagues to ban aluminum bats?

by jacob brumfield on Apr 23, 2010 10:17 AM EDT reply actions

and agreed

Wegner’s report was borderline douchey

by jacob brumfield on Apr 23, 2010 10:21 AM EDT reply actions

Holy crap

I hope your brother is doing okay and makes a full recovery. I was just at my son’s knothole game last night and the dangers never really occurred to me before. My son’s coach wants him to pitch, this will definitely be something I bring up.

Last week I played softball with some friends and the pitcher wore a helmet/mask deal. I kind of laughed at it but admitted, “You know, that’s not a bad idea. I’ve almost been hit in the face by a comebacker before.”

"The Asian language is very different than ares." -- Justin007000

by jch24 on Apr 23, 2010 11:22 AM EDT reply actions

first time I saw someone wearing one of those

I thought the same thing, but I’ve seen them semi-regularly since, especially in tournaments. That was the first thing that popped into my head when I read this story, it would be really easy to implement into little league games.

by sharks2 on Apr 24, 2010 2:34 AM EDT up reply actions

The pitcher on my softball team wears a helmet and mask.

He got hit in the face a couple of years ago.

by Brian B on Apr 24, 2010 2:02 PM EDT up reply actions

oh man...

hope he pulls through.

Running out to frontyard laughing! -Fat Vegas Alan

by GrooveLeg on Apr 23, 2010 12:00 PM EDT reply actions

Praying for your brother

and your family.

We Are ... Marshall!

by Thundering Turtle on Apr 23, 2010 4:56 PM EDT via mobile reply actions

Though I don't know the story, I hope all goes well for your brother and family.

Reds fan for 40 years!

by gejoe on Apr 23, 2010 5:29 PM EDT reply actions

Just saw

the clip of the Pirates pitcher who got hit in the head by a Lance Berkman comebacker yesterday.

Yikes. Maybe the pros should wear helmets and masks, too.

All Things Bubba: Because how can you not love a baseball player named Bubba?

by BubbaFan on Apr 25, 2010 9:29 AM EDT reply actions

Get well soon

Just wanted add my best wishes to all the others for a full and speedy recovery for your little brother. Kudos to you and your family for thinking of others during what I’m sure is a trying family time.

by satyanaas on Apr 25, 2010 12:52 PM EDT reply actions

Yet another reason why baseball at all levels should only use wooden bats

It’s only a matter of time before we see the freak accidental death of a player hit by a batted ball from an aluminum bat

Hope Aaron makes a speedy recovery!

by Highlifeman21 on Apr 25, 2010 10:21 PM EDT reply actions

I'm fairly positive that's already happened

I think I remember a story of a kid getting hit in the chest and his heart stopping a few years back.

by sharks2 on Apr 26, 2010 11:14 PM EDT up reply actions

yeah

the kids parents decided to sue everybody, the bat company, the little league, etc. I wonder how the lawsuits all turned out…

I hate Dusty Baker so goddamn much.

by justin007000 on Apr 27, 2010 12:20 AM EDT up reply actions

The BAT company?

"People don't kill people. Burning oreo packages kill people."

by crolfer on Apr 27, 2010 8:50 AM EDT up reply actions

This is why lawyers suck

(love you guys, don’t sue me!)

"The Asian language is very different than ares." -- Justin007000

by jch24 on Apr 27, 2010 9:09 AM EDT up reply actions

Probably b/c the bat company engineered and designed the bat to increase its trampoline effect, thus increasing the velocity at which the ball leaves the bat

by Highlifeman21 on Apr 27, 2010 9:42 AM EDT up reply actions

Oh... I was thinking the kid got hit by a pitch for some reason.

"People don't kill people. Burning oreo packages kill people."

by crolfer on Apr 27, 2010 9:49 AM EDT up reply actions

bingo

I hate Dusty Baker so goddamn much.

by justin007000 on Apr 27, 2010 1:43 PM EDT up reply actions

I can't really blame them too much

Their perfectly healthy kid died playing a game. They want someone to pay, even though it was really just bad luck.

It’s not the first time this has happened. Kids have also died after being hit by hockey pucks and soccer balls in the chest, and after being hit playing football.

Turns out, if you’re hit in the chest during a certain point in your heart rhythm, the heart will stop. (How do they know this? They hooked up pigs to EKGs, then set up pendulums with weights that would bang them in the chest. The ones who died were all hit during the same point in their heart rhythms.)

Death tends to be very fast; even if there’s a defibrillator on site, they often can’t get to the victim in time. Though greater awareness would help. I remember reading about one kid who was revived; an ambulance was standing by, and the crew knew that impact to the chest could cause the heart to stop, and acted very fast.

It’s more of a problem with kids, because their chest walls are thinner.

All Things Bubba: Because how can you not love a baseball player named Bubba?

by BubbaFan on Apr 27, 2010 9:46 AM EDT up reply actions

I don't blame the parents

Their kid survived but is severely brain damaged. But they were going through a lot of pain, their kid suddenly became brain damaged. They were angry and sad, and some lawyer took advantage of that. Really it is just bad luck though, but I understand not being involved in that terrible situation makes it easy for me to say that.

I hate Dusty Baker so goddamn much.

by justin007000 on Apr 27, 2010 1:46 PM EDT up reply actions

There are so many risks taken everyday in the life of a child.

Wether riding a bike near the street, running down a flight of stairs, playing soccer, football, or baseball. Tragedy strikes randomly…but even more tragic is to to over-protect a kid.
Even so my thoughts and prayers are with young Aaron.

Potential doesn't win games.

by Madville on Apr 27, 2010 12:39 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs

I pitched for 15 years and never thought about wearing head protection.

I equate this situation to hockey. Nobody wore helmets a couple generations ago. It took amateur hockey leagues to make helmets and head protection a rule. Eventually the NHL and International hockey also made it a rule. Now it’s the norm for hockey players to wear a helmet, whereas 2 generations of hockey players ago you were considered less than manly to wear one.

Even in baseball in first half of the 20th century guys weren’t wearing helmets to hit. Now it is the norm without a second thought when stepping to the plate of whether to wear a helmet or not.

by buckeye22fox on Apr 28, 2010 7:34 AM EDT up reply actions

I never wore one either...

Of course I was the best fielding pitcher that little league had ever seen, although no one could hit me anyway and I had tons and tons of modesty.

"People don't kill people. Burning oreo packages kill people."

by crolfer on Apr 28, 2010 11:09 AM EDT up reply actions

I couldnt' find the plate if my dinner was on it

the few times i was run out there. I threw fairly hard, just couldn’t control it. I was a headcase, when I played with my pitch and catch, I could put the ball anywhere in the square I wanted to. Put a batter up there in a live game, I was just as likely to hit him as throw a strike.

I hate Dusty Baker so goddamn much.

by justin007000 on Apr 28, 2010 4:06 PM EDT up reply actions

I seemed to have more control when I threw harder...

It was weird, but it worked.

"People don't kill people. Burning oreo packages kill people."

by crolfer on Apr 28, 2010 4:27 PM EDT up reply actions

I rarely pitched in little league

Probably because I was more interested in hitting the other batters than trying to get them out.

Potential doesn't win games.

by Madville on Apr 28, 2010 9:22 PM EDT reply actions

My favorite part of pitching was the opportunity to hit someone if they pissed me off

"The Asian language is very different than ares." -- Justin007000

by jch24 on Apr 28, 2010 11:08 PM EDT up reply actions

I did that a lot...

"People don't kill people. Burning oreo packages kill people."

by crolfer on Apr 28, 2010 11:15 PM EDT up reply actions

FWIW, I relayed this story to the guys at softball tonight after I pitched the last inning

And to a man, they agreed with me. It’s not “ghey”, it’s common sense. It may take 10 years or so to become common practice, but headgear for pitchers isn’t a bad idea. With the technology of bats these days it’s absolutely dangerous to be on the mound.

How is your brother doing, by the way? Please keep us in the loop. I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say that we’re all praying/thinking about/sending good vibes/whatever for him.

"The Asian language is very different than ares." -- Justin007000

by jch24 on Apr 28, 2010 11:26 PM EDT reply actions

wait, how is wearing headgear going to make it safer?

Seems like that will cause you to get your ass kicked more.

Red Reporter or follow on Twitter: @redreporter

by Slyde on Apr 29, 2010 8:10 AM EDT up reply actions

can't hotlink Fortune City images

All Things Bubba: Because how can you not love a baseball player named Bubba?

by BubbaFan on Apr 29, 2010 8:27 AM EDT up reply actions

well screw them then

didn’t realize it was fortune city. And in fact, I can still see the image. It’s HI-larious!

Red Reporter or follow on Twitter: @redreporter

by Slyde on Apr 29, 2010 10:48 AM EDT up reply actions

Update

He’s doing much better. Docs say he will make a full recovery but it’s going to be a long rehab and will take a year to be “normal” again. It blows my mind how great Cincy Children’s Hospital neurosurgeons are that they can remove a portion of his brain and still call for a full recovery. Thanks for support/prayers/positive vibes,etc. It’s really cool that all the randoms around the city of Cincinnati have paid it forward from previous tragedies and many random people just showing their support (cutting my parent’s grass, cooking them food, getting their teams helmets for infielders, etc). Cincinnati has reminded me how close of a community it can really be and I’m proud to be from that area. I’ve gone back to Virginia to resume work and life goes on, but between my parents, the Greater Cincy/NKY community, and the spectacular docs at Cincy Children’s I know that my brother is in good hands.

I’ll keep you posted on if/when any Reds visit my brother at Children’s. They’ve already sent a BP bobblehead, a Jay Bruce autographed picture, a Reds hat, and other assorted Reds stuff. The Reds PR staff has stopped short of promising player visits but they are making it sound likely.

by buckeye22fox on Apr 29, 2010 10:52 AM EDT reply actions 6 recs