During the series finale between the Cleveland Guardians and New York Yankees on Wednesday, an MLB umpire was struck by a ball on a shot from the outfield. Larry Vanover was punched in the head by a relief pitch from Andrés Gimínez and ultimately had to be taken to the hospital.
In the top of the fifth inning, Yankees catcher Kyle Higashioka hit a double off the center field wall. Myles Straw rebounded it and passed it to Giminez as Oswaldo Cabrera scored.
•
Giminez’s pitch hit Vanover and bounced, allowing him to score another Yankee run to cut the deficit from three runs to one. MLB umpire Vanover was immediately taken down.
What happened to the blow to the head of the MLB umpire?
Soon after, the referee had to be removed from the game. It was a terrifying sight and plate umpire Chris Guccione said he had a bruise on his head. Vanover suffered a concussion as a result during the Yankees-Guardians game.
Guccione also added via ESPN:
“That was scary. It’s really hard to focus after that, after seeing a colleague get beaten up. But they gave me updates and I said, ‘It’s okay. It’s good. It’s in good hands.'” So we keep going.”
It’s the same umpire who threw out Yankees manager Aaron Boone for a curious twist on a play in the first inning. Bonone said:
“Larry kicked me out and by the way, I hope he’s doing well. He looked pretty scary. He smoked pretty good. He was obviously pretty upbeat and pretty emotional and I thought he did an outstanding job of not facing my anger and kind of understanding. I thank you and I hope you are well.”
Vanover is reportedly on the mend now.