Umpire John Hirschbeck has scary encounter with flying, broken bat

It’s not unusual for umpires to get hurt while calling Major League Baseball games, but the vast majority of those bumps and bruises come to the man working behind the plate in a given game.

Veteran umpire John Hirschbeck narrowly avoided what could have been a serious injury Tuesday night while working at first base in a rematch of last season’s World Series teams in New York. the Mets beat the Royals 2-1.

Kansas City first baseman Eric Hosmer shattered his bat swinging at a pitch from New York Mets’ reliever Hansel Robles in the first inning. The main part of Hosmer’s bat flew down the first base line and landed next to Hirschbeck, who was clearly aware of the bat heading in his direction but never took his eyes of the ball, making sure he got the foul ball call correct as the ball headed down the line as well.

That’s a perfectly executed play by Hirschbeck with a dangerous object that could have done real damage flying in his direction. It’s often said that umpires don’t get near the respect they deserve for the job they do, but that’s not the case this time around.

Here is a tip of the cap to Hirschbeck who was no doubt breathing a sigh of relief after that one.

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Kyle Ringo is a contributing writer to Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KyleRingo