It was a typical Thursday night at Holman Stadium in Nashua, NH. The beloved Nashua Silver Knights were playing their fundamentally sound style of baseball. The crowd was larger than usual, as it was Department of Public Works Night at the stadium. I don't have to tell you how much those hard-working Public Works people enjoy their baseball. Comfortable in my usual Section 205 area in the upper level, directly behind home plate, I was enjoying another great night in the ballpark.
Then it happened. I heard the crack of the ball hitting the wooden bat and the ball coming straight back. It just barely cleared the protective netting behind home plate, which has been protecting me for the past five years. I saw the ball coming at me at a tremendous rate of speed on a line drive. This is when things began to change. You know how you hear great athletes say the game "slows down" for them during stressful moments of their competition? Well, that is exactly happened with me! Initially, I thought the ball was coming directly at me, but as it got closer, I realized it was heading right towards the face of my beautiful special friend (wink, wink) Terry, sitting next to me. She was just finishing a sip of Diet Coke and not prepared to protect herself.
I knew with the speed of the ball, if I tried to catch it with my bare hand, there would likely be some broken bones involved. There was also the chance that the ball could deflect off of my hand and still hit Terry in the face. I decided my best course of action would be to use the palm of my soft hand, to just knock the ball to the ground. As the ball got into range, I lunged at it and knocked it to the ground. I had no feeling at all in my hand after the ball hit it. I thought my entire hand was broken. The important thing was that Terry was safe. The ball was travelling so fast, the two guys sitting in the row in front of us, never reacted until the ball whizzed by their heads. A woman sitting nearby, noticed my heroic act, and admired my brave and selfless feat. She was staring at me with "wonton" eyes, as her man was busy checking his phone. Sadly, not everyone has a real Knight sitting next to them at the Silver Knights games.
Update:
Since the incident, I have returned to my seat back at the ballpark. Outside of the occasional flashback to that evening, I am fine. No broken bones. I am not frightened by what happened, but I must say I have a heightened awareness of the things going on around me. Sort of like a hungry dog when the family sits down for dinner. Terry is happy that she didn't end up with Sammy Davis eye, or worse. She has been able to carry on with her life and a future modeling career is still an option for her, thanks to her Knight.
PSA:
I tried to make this entertaining, but truth is it was pretty scary and painful. Someone could have really been hurt by that ball. All I can say is pay attention to the action on the field when you attend a game. Check your phone between innings if you have to. A bat or ball heading into the stands can hit anybody and they reach you fast! Just stay alert and enjoy the game and keep yourself and your friends and family safe.
