RIP Mike Coolbaugh

[DrungoHazewood]

Link (http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/tht-daily-tragedy-on-the-field/)


Former major league infielder and current Tulsa hitting coach Mike Coolbaugh died Sunday night after being struck in the head by a line drive as he stood in the first-base coach's box in a game against Arkansas. Unbelievable. Coolbaugh was knocked unconscious and CPR was administered to him on the field after he was struck in the forehead. The 35-year-old was still alive when he was put in an ambulance, but stopped breathing before arriving at the hospital. Coolbaugh, who played in 44 games for the Brewers in 2001 and the Cardinals in 2002, hit 256 career homers in the minors before retiring after last season. He had just taken the job as Tulsa's hitting and first-base coach on July 3. He is survived by his wife and two children, with a third on the way in October.

Wow. On-field deaths in professional baseball are extremely rare. In the majors I only know off-hand of two, Ray Chapman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Chapman), and John McSherry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McSherry). Jim Creighton (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Creighton) also died from injuries sustained on the field, before pro ball got organized.

[beaner]

Link (http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/tht-daily-tragedy-on-the-field/)



Wow. On-field deaths in professional baseball are extremely rare. In the majors I only know off-hand of two, Ray Chapman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Chapman), and John McSherry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McSherry). Jim Creighton (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Creighton) also died from injuries sustained on the field, before pro ball got organized.

What a terrible, terrible story. I wonder if coaches will be allowed to wear batting helmets if they wanted to.

[geschinger]

A real tragedy for the Coolbaugh family. I also can't imagine what Tino Sanchez must be going through.

[scOtt]

That is so sad in so many ways. For Coolbaugh and his family. And Sanchez. What I thought of, the family atmosphere of MiL games, I think of young kids in the stands who witnessed it. Very tragic all around.

[Tx Oriole]

Just saw where Tulsa AA hitting coach MIke Coolbaugh was struck by a line drive and killed last night. That is very sad for his family and friends. I ahd met him whenm he played with the Round Rock Express a couple years ago. My thoughts and prayers go to his freinds and family.

[rbrhett]

That's tragic. It goes to show you never know when your time is up. An article on the incident said he was alive when the ambulance arrived at the hospital but died shortly thereafter. What a blow for his family. He has a baby on the way and two small children. My prayers are with them.

[olehippi]

Yesterday, Juan Samuel was almost creamed by a Millar foul line drive. Maybe the 1B/3B coaches should start wearing helmets.

[cindyluvsbrady]

This is very sad!:(

[beaner]

I think coaches should have an option to wear a helmet if they want. This tragedy could lead to something being done ASAP.

[ChaosLex]

Link (http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/tht-daily-tragedy-on-the-field/)



Wow. On-field deaths in professional baseball are extremely rare. In the majors I only know off-hand of two, Ray Chapman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Chapman), and John McSherry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McSherry). Jim Creighton (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Creighton) also died from injuries sustained on the field, before pro ball got organized.

I remember John McSherry's death giving me nightmares in high school. :(

[TyCobb]

Link (http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/tht-daily-tragedy-on-the-field/)



Wow. On-field deaths in professional baseball are extremely rare. In the majors I only know off-hand of two, Ray Chapman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Chapman), and John McSherry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McSherry). Jim Creighton (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Creighton) also died from injuries sustained on the field, before pro ball got organized.

I am 99.9% sure there was some incident with Cobb over what happend to Chapman but I don't remember what exactly. Does anyone know what I am talking about?

[Moose Milligan]

Very, very sad :(

[DrungoHazewood]

I am 99.9% sure there was some incident with Cobb over what happend to Chapman but I don't remember what exactly. Does anyone know what I am talking about?

Don't remember anything. There's a story about Mays knocking down Cobb and nearly starting a fight early in Mays' career, but that was years before the Chapman incident.

[Migrant Redbird]

I think coaches should have an option to wear a helmet if they want. This tragedy could lead to something being done ASAP.

I doubt very much if anyone would have objected had coaches chosen to wear helmets before this incident occurred. They certainly wouldn't now.

One of the fans on a Cardinals forum mentioned that John Olerud used to wear a flapless batting helmet while playing 1st base because he suffered a brain aneurysm while playing in college. Another told an anecdote about a time in 1998 when the umpire tried to make the Cardinals third base coach (Rene Lachman?) get back in the coaches box when Mark McGwire was at the plate. The coach was miked and he was heard to tell the ump, "Would you want to stand there with McGwire at the plate?"

She also mentioned that her dad was listening to Tony La Russa's weekly radio interview this morning and the broadcaster asked La Russa about his thoughts on what happened to Coolbaugh. The broadcaster was surprised to learn that La Russa hadn't heard yet. He told La Russa only that Coolbaugh had been hit in the head by a line drive. La Russa asked them how badly Coolbaugh had been heard and was stunned when they told him that Coolbaugh had died. They spent the remainder of the morning interview sharing memories about Coolbaugh.

[TyCobb]

Don't remember anything. There's a story about Mays knocking down Cobb and nearly starting a fight early in Mays' career, but that was years before the Chapman incident.

I found out it was that Cobb wanted Mays banned from Baseball. Don't know if it was just based on Chapman or his pure hatred of Mays.

[scOtt]

In a weird turn of events, it was Chapman's death that 1)spurred wearing batting helmets 2) spurred the use of clean new balls and 3) ushered out the "dead ball era". Chapman's story is just as tragic (I assume) as Coolbaugh's, but it probably served a greater purpose, all around.


As well might Coolbaugh's. Maybe 1st and 3rd base coaches all over baseball will now wear helmets.

I hate to mount my soapbax... but the same precautions need to be made for (especially) college pitchers, pitching to aluminum bats, but also to anyone pitching. I'm amazed no pitcher has ever been killed.

[gallden]

I'm surprised that this doesn't happen in the college level at all. I think they should start using wood bats I understand the cost and everything but as hard as they hit the ball its crazy.

[DrungoHazewood]

In a weird turn of events, it was Chapman's death that 1)spurred wearing batting helmets 2) spurred the use of clean new balls and 3) ushered out the "dead ball era". Chapman's story is just as tragic (I assume) as Coolbaugh's, but it probably served a greater purpose, all around.


As well might Coolbaugh's. Maybe 1st and 3rd base coaches all over baseball will now wear helmets.

I hate to mount my soapbax... but the same precautions need to be made for (especially) college pitchers, pitching to aluminum bats, but also to anyone pitching. I'm amazed no pitcher has ever been killed.

I'm sure the Chapman incident was cited as one of the reasons for batting helmets, and there were experiments with them in the 20s, but the first major league team to wear them in the regular season were the 1953 Pirates. 33 years after Champan was killed. They weren't made mandatory until 1971, and players were grandfathered in - they didn't have to wear them if they'd been in the league before. Bob Montgomery was apparently the last major leaguer to bat without a helmet in '79, nearly 60 years post-Chapman.

[Mark Carver]

I'm sure the Chapman incident was cited as one of the reasons for batting helmets, and there were experiments with them in the 20s, but the first major league team to wear them in the regular season were the 1953 Pirates. 33 years after Champan was killed. They weren't made mandatory until 1971, and players were grandfathered in - they didn't have to wear them if they'd been in the league before. Bob Montgomery was apparently the last major leaguer to bat without a helmet in '79, nearly 60 years post-Chapman.

And... according to mandatory earflap (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batting_helmet) on the batting helmets wasn't required until 1983. And than they grandfathered that also... and Tim Raines was the last player to wear a helmet without ear flaps, during the 2002 season.


Also, Major League bat-boys and ball-boys are required to wear a helmet rather than a cap while performing their duties while on the field of play. They are allowed to use the no-flap helmet for this purpose, and most do. Some Major League catchers also continue to use the no-flap helmet, wearing it backwards along with their mask.

[howie14]

The players like Montgomery (I believe another was former Oriole and Senator Fred Valentine) in the 1960s and '70s wore the plastic hat liner, I think. I remember seeing one. It was small light and fit right in the hatband.

Were those actually required? And, if so, starting when?

[Migrant Redbird]

I'm surprised that this doesn't happen in the college level at all. I think they should start using wood bats I understand the cost and everything but as hard as they hit the ball its crazy.

They don't need to go back to wooden bats. All they need to do is to put a halt to the "performance competition" among the bats manufacturers. Composite bats could be engineered to have the same coefficient of elasticity (or whatever it's called) as wood does. The NCAA could require teams to use only bats certified to have performance equivalent to wooden bats and allow opposing managers and umpires to select bats at random occasionally for testing. They still wouldn't sound like wooden bats (although I suppose they could work on that too), but they could perform like wooden bats while still providing the same economic benefits.

[scarey1999]

Another personal story to relate to this awful story.

I was at a minor league game in Frisco, TX last week with my girlfriend. We sat right behind the visitors dugout so needless to say we had a great view of the 1st base coaches box and could hear almost everything the coaches and players were saying on the field since it was a relatively sparse Monday night crowd.

Anyways, my girlfriend asked if the coaches ever got hit or hurt by batted balls. I thought it was a strange question to ask knowing that it rarely happens but it was a good question that a casual fan might ask. I told her "Naahh, it never happens....the coaches are always watching, knowing the situations, fully aware, etc, etc".

And then the other day I heard about this terrible news.

Oh by the way, who was the 1st base coach that day for Frisco that spurred on our conversation you might wonder? None other than former major leaguer and Mike's brother, Scott.