Coolbaugh, 35, dies; struck in head by line drive




NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Tulsa Drillers coach Mike Coolbaugh died after being struck in the head by a line drive as he stood in the first-base coach's box during a game.
The Texas League game was suspended in the ninth inning Sunday after the 35-year-old former major leaguer was hit by a foul ball off the bat of Tino Sanchez of the Arkansas Travelers. Coolbaugh was taken to Baptist Medical Center-North Little Rock, where he was pronounced dead.
"It's a tragedy for all of baseball," Drillers president Chuck Lamson told the Tulsa World in a story posted on the newspaper's Web site early Monday. "He just joined the staff and was a former Driller player. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family."
Travelers spokesman Phil Elson said Coolbaugh was hit on the right side of his head or on the forehead. "I'm getting conflicting reports," Elson said. Coolbaugh fell to the ground immediately.
According to a report on the Drillers' Web site late Sunday, Coolbaugh was knocked unconscious and CPR was administered to him on the field.
Sgt. Terry Kuykendall, spokesman for North Little Rock police, said Coolbaugh was still alive when he was put in an ambulance, but stopped breathing as the ambulance arrived at the hospital.
"They tried to resuscitate him, but he was pronounced dead at 9:47 p.m.," Kuykendall said.
Coolbaugh played 44 games in the major leagues for the St. Louis Cardinals (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/clubhouse?team=stl) and Milwaukee Brewers (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/clubhouse?team=mil) over two seasons. The Drillers' Web site said Coolbaugh joined the Tulsa staff on July 3 as a batting coach. He played for the team briefly in 1996.
Tulsa is the Colorado Rockies (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/clubhouse?team=col)' Double-A affiliate.
Aaron Rifkin, the Drillers' first basemen, said recently that Coolbaugh's coaching style had already been a help to the team.
"He came in and didn't try to change guys, just fine-tune what they were doing. He's been great for me," Rifkin told the Tulsa World.
A native of Binghamton, N.Y., Coolbaugh went to Roosevelt High School in San Antonio and was drafted in 1990 by the Toronto Blue Jays (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/clubhouse?team=tor) in the 16th round.
He played third base and bounced around the minors for a decade, before making his major league debut with the Brewers in 2001. He played five more big league games for the Cardinals in 2002. He hit two home runs in 70 major league at-bats.
Coolbaugh spent three years in the Houston Astros (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/clubhouse?team=hou) organization, first signing as a minor league free agent in July 2003, the Houston Chronicle reported on its Web site Monday. He played at Double-A Round Rock in 2003, at Triple-A New Orleans in 2004 and at Triple-A Round Rock in 2005.
In 2005, he was named the Astros' Triple-A Most Valuable Player, hitting .281 with 27 homers and 101 RBIs.
Coolbaugh's older brother, Scott, also played 167 major league games over parts of four seasons with Texas, San Diego and St. Louis in the early 1990s.
The Travelers, the Angels' Double-A affiliate, led 7-3 at the time the game was suspended with no outs and a runner on first in the top of the ninth inning. Officials said a date and time for finishing the game had not yet been chosen.
Coolbaugh is survived by his wife, Mandy, and two young sons, Joseph and Jacob, all of San Antonio. Mandy Coolbaugh is expecting another child in October.

Wow, I remember when Coolbaugh was a player.

Sad, sad story with two kids and another on the way.

RIP

I wonder how he didn't see it. They didn't mention if he was distracted or something. I could see someone hitting it hard enough that you could get hit over there, but it seems like you'd still have a second to cover up your head.

The problem is that when the ball is hit, it doesn't go in a straight line. There's a lot of spin on the ball and it can hook a good amount, so when you think you're getting out of the way you're not.

I coach third base for collete players and I've been hit twice in the last two years, just in the leg and foot. It can also be dangerous if you have a hit and run on and you're watching the runner.

batting helmets = problem solved.

batting helmets = problem solved.

I agree. Why should the runner keep his helmet on and not the coach there? Doesn't make sense.

Interesting read about this (especially with all the quotes):


DENVER -- Colorado Rockies (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/clubhouse?team=col) first-base coach Glenallen Hill (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=3977) isn't taking any chances following the death of Mike Coolbaugh (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=6760) from a line drive in a minor league game.
For the first time in his short coaching career, Hill donned a helmet for the Padres-Rockies series.
"It just makes sense," he said Tuesday night.
The issue of coaches wearing helmets has been a hot topic in baseball since Coolbaugh was struck and killed by a line drive Sunday night at North Little Rock, Ark., while coaching first base for the Tulsa Drillers, the Rockies' Double-A affiliate.
A former major league infielder, Coolbaugh was a superb athlete with great reflexes but he couldn't get out of harm's way.
Nobody can see when the balls are smoked right at you, traveling at better than 100 mph, Hill said.
Coaching the bases for the first time this season after spending three years as a minor league hitting instructor and Class-A manager following his 13-year major league career, Hill was struck in his left elbow by a foul ball during spring training.
"I'll never forget it," Hill said. "There was nothing I could have done."
As a player, Hill hit some balls that whizzed past the pitcher's heads so fast they didn't have time to react. "I was thankful they didn't hit them because they didn't move," Hill said. "They didn't move their glove."
Still, it wasn't until Coolbaugh's death that he decided to don a helmet.
"I had thought about it but didn't want to put it into play," Hill said. "Then, I heard about Mike and it brought a lot of emotions, for his family, his children, safety, how many close calls I've had. It just makes sense."
Hill said he always appreciates it when batters reach first base and hand over their body armor: "I strap the stuff on."
So does Minnesota Twins (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/clubhouse?team=min) first base coach Jerry White.
"You know the guys' shin guards? I'll always keep it even though the bat boy will come out there and grab it. I'll give him the gloves but I always hold on to the shin guard and put it up here [in front of his face]," White said.
"Maybe I should think about getting me a helmet."
Hill echoed a sentiment expressed by many players, coaches and managers around the league who said their greater concern was for the fans, especially kids, who sit so close to the action.
"I have warned parents to pay attention to their kids several times," Hill said.
He said there's been countless times that he's been coaching first and hears the smack of the bat on the ball and never sees it. "The first baseman will ask, did you see that ball? I didn't," Hill said.
"It's pretty dangerous," Hill said. "And it's not a good feeling."
So, Hill's wearing a helmet, something New York Yankees (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/clubhouse?team=nyy) manager Joe Torre said every base coach in baseball should be doing now.
"I don't think there's any question. A lot of times coaches scare you, because some of them won't even watch the hitter, because they're trying to help the runner. So I don't think that's a bad idea at all," Torre said. "In fact, I think it's a pretty good idea for security people who have to watch the stands instead of the field."
Kansas City Royals (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/clubhouse?team=kan) manager Buddy Bell agreed: "Unfortunately, it takes an incident like this to rethink what we do," he said. "We haven't had a lot of time to think about it. We shouldn't have to think about it very long, to be honest with you."
Detroit Tigers (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/clubhouse?team=det) first base coach Andy Van Slyke said people in the stands are in greater danger of getting hit by a foul ball or a splintered, whirling bat than anybody on the field or in the dugouts.
And Hill said major league baseball should extend the netting that protects fans behind the plate down the foul lines, although "then fans will complain that they won't be able to get the foul balls and lean over the fence. But there's a reason there's a glass cage in hockey, there is."
Still, several base coaches, including Billy Hatcher of the Cincinnati Reds (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/clubhouse?team=cin) and Brian Butterfiled of the Toronto Blue Jays (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/clubhouse?team=tor), are opposed to wearing helmets, which don't protect much of the head anyway.
Detroit Tigers slugger Sean Casey (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=5930) wondered if there was anything, really, that could be done to prevent another tragedy.
"You always think about when a guy like Gary Sheffield (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=4268) comes up and [Tigers third base coach] Gene Lamont is sitting in the box over there," Casey said. "At any time, Sheff could hit a ball that no one could react to, and what do you do? You're almost a sitting duck. I know when I'm at third base and he's up and I'm coming off [the bag], it's scary."
Lamont, though, doesn't think helmets are the answer.
"If you're going to do that, you're going to need to offer helmets to all the fans that come in," he said.

I don't know how Gene Lamont does it. If I were him, I would probably hit the dirt everytime Sheff swings the bat.


Side note: How do you move on if your the kid that hit that ball?