Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Alex Cobb was taken off on a stretcher on Saturday after taking a line drive off the head against the Kansas City Royals. He suffered a mild concussion as a result.
Two thunderous sounds drowned out the crowd noise, and Alex Cobb lay motionless on the mound on Saturday.
'Thwack!' Royals infielder Eric Hosmer connected with a pitch.
Split-seconds later, another 'thwack!', and Cobb, the Tampa Bay pitcher, was nailed in the head by the ball, his glove unable to provide any protection as the screaming liner bee-lined for his skull.
The frightening incident happened during the fifth inning of the Royals-Rays game in St. Petersburgh, Fla., and trainers and players alike swarmed the field to tend to the fallen hurler, who was eventually
taken off the field on a stretcher.
The team later confirmed he suffered a mild concussion.
Take a look at the incident with Cobb below:
Should Major League Baseball be doing more to protect pitchers on the mound? Can they do anything, or is it the responsibility of the players to protect themselves? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
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Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Alex Cobb grabs his head and lies on the pitcher's mound after being hit by a line drive during the fifth inning of a baseball game on Saturday in St. Petersburg, Fla. Cobb was taken off the field on a stretcher. (Brian Blanco/Associated Press)
Rod Perry
Rod grew up in the west end of Toronto and did his undergraduate degree at Wilfrid Laurier University, majoring in English and minoring in Psychology. He's always had an infatuation with anything sports-related and took his passion to Centennial College's sports journalism program for a post-graduate education. He's also still miffed about the Kelly Gruber botched triple play call in the 1992 World Series.
