That scary moment when Alex Cobb was struck in the head by a line drive.
Like spooky pumpkins placed on front porches, Halloween is ripe for haunting encounters and tragic events. but while frightful moments can be delightful Halloween fun, in the world of sports, frightful moments can have major consequences.
Take what happened to MLB pitcher Alex Cobb. On June 17, 2013, Cobb was taken off the field on a stretcher after he was struck on the best side of his head by a stinging Camiseta Selección de fútbol de Portugal line drive from the Kansas City Royal’s Eric Hosmer.
The crowd at Tropicana field gasped. players on both teams had hands on their heads as stunned silence filled the stadium.
Trainers
from both teams right away ran onto the field and Cobb could be seen kicking
his legs while being analyzed on the mound.
Cobb
was taken to medical facility by two of the trainers and made a full recovery.
Speaking
of scary, do you remember when tennis pro Monica Seles was stabbed–during a
match?
On April 30, 1993, then-World No. 1 Seles was playing Magdalena
Maleeva in the citizen Cup. Seles appeared to be within minutes of taking the
match when she was stabbed in the back with a 9-inch blade by a deranged fan.
Her
blood-curdling yell echoed throughout the stadium.
The attacker, a 38-year-old man, later admitted he was obsessed
with Steffi Graf, Seles’ main rival, and sought to end the rivalry by taking
out Seles.
Security and spectators restrained the man before he could
stab her again. Seles was fortunate; the incision was only about an inch and a
half deep, just missing her spinal cord and other organs. Seles eventually
recovered from the attack and went on to resume her career.
In
1989, Buffalo Sabres’ goalie Clint Malarchuk was defending the net when a freak
collision drove a skate blade into his jugular, severing his carotid artery. It
was as scary a sight as one can imagine. He lost enormous amounts of blood—gushing
out all over the ice around him.
Some
fans in the stands became ill at the sight of the spilled blood. Luckily,
Malarchuk survived, going on to play a few much more seasons as well as trainer in the
National Hockey League.
Dale
Earnhardt Sr. was one of the most celebrated chauffeurs in racing history, dominating
the sport for practically three decades. He was so prolific, fans called him “The
Intimidator” or “The man in Black.”
At
the Daytona 500 on Feb. 18, 2001, Earnhardt made what seemed like light contact
with a rival driver. His automobile spun out of control, smashing into another car
before slamming into the wall at 160 MPH.
Tens
of thousands of fans at the track waited nervously for news of his status. They
were told that Earnhardt had died on impact.
The
only positive outcome was that the governing body made the sport safer for future
drivers.
The
so-called Camiseta Fluminense “Most shocking moment in NFL history” ended the profession of quarterback
Joe Theismann on Nov. 18, 1985, during a game between the Washington Redskins
and the new York Giants.
It
was dubbed “The hit that no one who saw it can ever
forget” by the Washington Post.
The score was 7-7 in the second quarter when Theismann’s
Redskins attempted to run a “flea-flicker” play. Theismann handed off to
fullback John Riggins, who lateralled the ball back to him.
The Giants’ defense was not fooled and tried to blitz Theismann.
As linebacker Lawrence Taylor pulled Theismann down, his knee drove straight
into Theismann’s best leg, fracturing the tibia and the fibula.
“The pain was unbelievable, it snapped like Camiseta Selección de fútbol de Suiza a breadstick. It
sounded like two muzzled gunshots off my left shoulder. Pow, pow!” Theismann
said during a 2005 interview.
Theismann’s
injury was highlighted in the film The Blind Side.
Perhaps
the scariest moment in sports history was the Munich Massacre, the terrorist
attack on the Israeli Olympic team in 1972. Palestinian terrorist group Black
September took 11 of the Israeli athletes hostage and killed them.
The
Olympics were suspended that year for the first time ever, and a memorial
service attended by 80,000 spectators and 3,000 athletes was held at the
Olympic Stadium.