Charlie Blackmon Got Nailed Square In The Dome With A Foul Ball Last Night, Shook It Off Like A Pro

Almost very scary stuff last night in Denver as Charlie Blackmon was on-deck, NOT in the on-deck circle, and gets absolutely drilled in the head with a foul ball. I mean there was 0 time to react to this. Just the sound alone makes you cringe. Hey Statcast, can I have the exit velo on that one? How about the time it took to go 40 feet and hit Blackmon? I mean it takes less than a second from when it’s hit to when it hits Blackmon, how on earth are you supposed to react in time?

Charlie is known as a pretty tough guy, he has the long hair and the beard, so what happens naturally? He picks himself up and stays in the game, hockey player misses a month, maybe 2 if this happens. That’s just baseball guys being baseball guys.

In all seriousness, I’m happy Chuck is okay, because that could have been terrible. Thank god it wasn’t 4 inches lower and rearranged his face. Guess they make those helmets are put together pretty decent, because that could easily have done some damage and not just bounce off of it.

This leads me to my next question, why have the on-deck circle if it’s not going to be enforced? Is it just there to be there? I remember a few years back, Orioles catcher Caleb Joseph actually slipped on the plastic on-deck circle and almost got his capa detated by the bar next to the dugout. So why do players not have to stand in it? It’s like the third base or first base’s coaching box, no one ever stays in there. I get that players want to get a better look at the pitcher and like to wonder back there, but good god man, with how fast those balls come back there, no reason to stand there, get your look at the pitcher from 3 feet to your left. Just look at where Blackmon is standing, he’s basically in the umpire’s back pocket.

This video below is the only time I remember an Ump actually enforcing a player stand in the on-deck circle, and Beltre decided to take matters into his own hands, man I love that guy.