MINNEAPOLIS – Compared to the last opposing pitcher hit in the face by a ball off a Yankees bat, Nick Blackburn was fortunate yesterday when Bobby Abreu’s liner deflected off his glove and kissed his nose and top lip.
Eight years ago Ryan Thompson’s Fenway Park smash broke bones in Red Sox reliever Bryce Florie’s face and left him with eye damage.
Blackburn was two outs away from qualifying for a victory and led 3-1 in the fifth inning when Abreu scorched a 3-1 pitch back at the right-hander. Fortunately, the rookie got his glove up to deflect the ball. Still, the ball hit Blackburn’s nose hard enough that he went down to the turf on his back. Blackburn was helped off the field with a bloodied face and replaced by Brian Bass.
Abreu took two steps out of the batter’s box and held his head in his hands when he saw Blackburn collapse. Abreu was visibly shaken at first base while the pitcher was attended to.
Despite several Twins looking at the dirt on the mound after Blackburn left, it was announced that Blackburn didn’t lose any teeth and didn’t lose consciousness.
X-rays were negative and Blackburn escaped with bruises on his nose and upper lip.
“I didn’t know what to do, I was feeling bad,” said Abreu, who talked to Blackburn after the 5-1 Twins victory. “Thankfully there is nothing wrong. He said he was fine and that was a relief. I was afraid something was wrong with him.”
Blackburn didn’t know why he collapsed on the dirt, nor could he predict if he would be affected by the incident in his next start. However, Andy Pettitte and Mike Mussina said the memory won’t die quickly.
“I would rather quit today than take a ball in the face,” said Mussina, who needed 30 stitches and suffered a broken nose when Sandy Alomar, Jr. hit him near the right eye in 1998 and sent him to the disabled list. “(It affected) me for a long time, for the rest of the year.”
Mussina spoke with Blackburn in the hall but didn’t offer advice.
“It takes a while to get over it, I flinched the rest of the year,” said Pettitte, who got hit in the nose and lip by Cal Ripken in 1997.