Total Pro Sports – Whether you are standing in the batters box waiting on a 90 mph fastball, or the one delivering it, baseball can be quite the dangerous game.  It is often described as a non-contact sport, but don’t tell that too Mets third baseman David Wright or Dodgers pitcher Hiroki Kuroda.

It happens in all levels of the game, whether it is softball, or even little league with children, and just one month ago the Padres’ Edgar Gonzalez was also the victim of a head shot.  Now this past Saturday, Wright and Kuroda were involved in separate scary incidents which saw each of them take a ball of their noggin.

At home against the San Francisco Giants, Wright came to the plate in the bottom of the 4th inning.  Down 0-2 in the count to pitcher Matt Cain, Wright likely wasn’t expecting to see the next pitch come right for his head, but it did just that, sending his helmet flying and knocking him down and out.  Trainers attended to a dazed Wright for a few minutes before escorting him off the field and taking him to the hospital.

Following an exam by team doctors, television cameras showed Wright being taken by ambulance to a hospital midway through the sixth inning. While the CT scan came back negative, Wright was ruled to have a concussion and will stay in the hospital overnight. [MLB.com]

Wright has since been released from the hospital and was placed on the 15-day DL by the Mets.  There is currently no timetable for his return.  And in case you were wondering, no Mets player made their way towards the Giants clubhouse looking for revenge following the game, a la Prince Fielder.

Kuroda’s incident also occurred on Saturday, in the bottom of the sixth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks.  Pitching to Rusty Ryal with no outs, Kuroda was unable to dodge a line drive which hit him in the side of the head.  He remained down for a while and was also taken to the hospital.

Trainer Stan Conte said Kuroda never lost consciousness and a CT scan was negative, revealing no fractures or bleeding. Kuroda will be kept overnight at a local hospital for observation with a likely concussion, although doctors were willing to release him, Conte said. [MLB.com]

Kuroda was released from the hospital Sunday morning, and despite feeling somewhat better, he is still expected to miss his next scheduled start this Thursday against the Chicago Cubs.

With two outs in the top of the ninth inning and the score 17-4, Prince Fielder was at the plate just looking to get out of this nightmare of a game.  Earlier in the game, Manny Ramirez was hit by a pitch, and Dodgers pitcher Guillermo Mota was out for revenge, despite what the scoreboard displayed.

His first pitch to Fielder ran right inside and plunked him on the hip.  Mota was immediately ejected and Ramon Troncoso, who was warming up in the bullpen, came in to record the final out.  Once that happened, Fielder charged down the dugout steps and headed straight for the Dodgers clubhouse:

He knew the location of the Dodgers clubhouse because it’s near a weight room used by visitors, so Fielder hustled past fans and reporters toward the door, yelling obscenities. A number of his teammates caught up with Fielder in time to usher him back to the visitor’s side. [MLB.com]

I guess it isn’t just the Dodgers fans who are getting themselves into trouble these days with opposing teams.

It would have been great to see (or at least hear) what would have happened had Fielder made it to Mota.  It may have looked something like this.  In case you don’t remember, that is the same Guillermo Mota who beaned Mike Piazza a few years back, then ran away as a crazy-eyed Piazza chased him around the park.

There is no telling whether any discipline will be handed down from the league as a result of this incident, but you would have to believe that they will look closely into the actions of the Dodgers and manager Joe Torre.  After all, what is a pitcher doing warming up in the ninth inning with two outs?  Seems like someone was getting ready in case their pitcher got ejected.

Hat Tip – [MLB.com]