Scary Moment Reminds Us, "It's Just A Game"

Despite the millions of fans, huge contracts, and celebrity names, baseball is just a game. We have all heard the saying growing up, “It’s just a game.”

That thought often gets lost as players and fans get into games and the competition. Occasionally however, we are reminded how much these great sporting events are just games.

We got a reminder of this yesterday at Yankee Stadium in a game between the Yankees and Cleveland Indians. Never has Yankee Stadium been as quiet as it was yesterday during this moment. A moment that happened in the blink of an eye.

Indians pitcher David Huff threw a pitch to Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod hit a line drive right back up the middle and the worst nightmare of a pitcher and hitter happened next. The speed of the line drive did not allow Huff enough time to react and get out of the way.

The pitcher had just enough time to slightly turn his head just enough to save serious injury or worse. The ball hit Huff on the left side of his head and ricocheted into right field. Huff dropped to the pitcher mound face down and motionless.

Rodriguez moved to second base with his hands on his head, showing great concern. Nick Swisher had scored of the play. Swisher and A-Rod immediately dropped to their knees and focused their sights on the ground, also glancing at the pitcher.

In this event that happened ever so quickly, everyone was reminded how unimportant this game is. Yes, it’s just a game.

“Your heart stops. You want so badly to take it back,” Rodriguez said in a statement relayed through Jason Zillo, a Yankees publicist. “You’re scared. You think of him, you think of his family. You think of a million other places that the ball could have gone, other than where it did. Why there?

“I mean, we’re playing a game. A game. I know it’s a business, too, but to all of us, playing it should always be a game first, and when something like that happens right in front of your eyes it makes you think long and hard about things much bigger than throwing or hitting a baseball or running around the bases for a few hours a day. I’m so thankful that he’s going to be OK.”

Huff’s family had been in Yankee Stadium to watch him pitch. They left and went to the hospital to be with their son.

Immediately after the game, Alex Rodriguez left the stadium and called a Yankees official to get the address of the hospital Huff was being treated at. Huff, however, had already been released, so Rodriguez got the pitchers cell phone number to give him a call.

The life of a man is so much more important than this game. It’s the words we all heard growing up. The words we never wanted to hear and never truly understood. Moments like this are the time we can truly be reminded of what we are playing, or watching. A Game

“It’s Just A Game”