Would Carl Mays be in the Baseball Hall of Fame without the Chapman incident? And if so, why so? PR? Nobody wore helmets then: this was inevitable. I read somewhere that Walter Johnson was so terrified of killing someone that Ty Cobb took advantage by crowding the plate. Would any pitcher who killed a batter be excluded from the Hall, just a borderline candidate like Mays, or just a generally unpopular borderline candidate (like Mays)? If the Big Train had hit Chapman, would DC still have named a school after him?

TTB - Point not that it has happened, but that it’s already come pretty damn freakin’ close. Stingley died in 2007, partially due to the paraplegia (pneumonia complications, heart disease). Tatum is still alive, but not kicking as well since his left leg was amputated.

I’m actually surprised that we haven’t seen an on-the-field death. While players are (everything)er than ever before, they’re also better protected than before, and, I think most importantly, more FLEXIBLE than ever before.

Honestly, I’m sometimes surprised that no pitcher has ever been hit on a line-drive comebacker.  I remember distinctly seeing Brett Myers get hit by one, in the head, and the ball ricocheted past first base, in the air.  Myers, of course, doesn’t need his brain, so he kept pitching. 

I realize that there are hundreds more opportunities for pitches to get someone in the head than batted balls, every now and then, the speed gun at the stadium doesn’t auto-switchoff, and we can see the pitch come in at 93 and go right back out at 120.  Scary stuff.

I remember watching Brad Holman (Brian’s bro) take a liner directly off his forehead.

And there was a Red Sox pitcher sometime earlier this decade who took one right into his cheekbone, crushed it… (checking)—Bryce Florie.