It was a scary moment at Yankee Stadium on Sunday when home-plate umpire Nick Mahrley was hit in the head by Giancarlo Stanton’s splintered bat in the fifth inning of the game against the Colorado Rockies.
Stanton’s bat snapped at the handle and struck Mahrley in the left side of the head and neck. The 41-year-old umpire from Illinois, in his second year as a full-time MLB umpire, was tended to by trainers and emergency personnel on the field.
After the incident, Mahrley was on one knee for several minutes before being carted off the field to the cheers of the crowd. Crew chief Marvin Hudson took over for him as Stanton watched from first base.
“That was bad. (I) just saw it by the replay,” Stanton commented. “(He) took it like a champ, though. When I was in the box, I didn’t hear anything, a groan or anything. Took it like a champ.”
During the seventh inning, the Yankees announced that Mahrley was being evaluated by the team’s medical staff and undergoing a full battery of tests.
Rockies manager Bud Black expressed his concern for Mahrley, stating, “Anytime you see an umpire or any player go down with some sort of head injury, it really straightens you up. It really does. When you see a neck brace, you see a stretcher — those are not all good things. Hopefully Nick will be okay.”
In addition to the incident, Yankees’ Aaron Judge hit his 50th and 51st home runs of the season, making him the player with the most home runs in the majors.
(Photo of umpire Nick Mahrley: Ron Chenoy / USA Today)
