MLB Umpire Nearly Loses His Eye in Shattered Bat Accident

By Brian Jones

An MLB umpire had to leave a game earlier this week after being struck in the face by a broken bat. Nate Tomlinson was calling balls and strikes in Monday's Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Los Angeles Angels game and was hit in the face by a broken back from Angels star Mike Trout. Tomlinson was inches away from possibly losing his eye, and Trout reluctantly ran to first base after the incident. 

The game was delayed as officials attended to Tomlinson who left the game. Second-base umpire Laz Diaz took over behind the home plate. "In the mask, the broken part of the bat, that was really scary," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, per The Athletic. "I heard that it hit his nose, Nate. And so that's, I guess, the best-case scenario. A very scary moment."

Fans had a lot to say about the incident. "If it was the barrel side of the bat that had hit him instead of the broken handle – it probably would not have gotten in between his mask guards to hit his face," one fan wrote. Another fan believes umpires and catchers should add visors to their masks. 

"And that is why it would be a great idea if umps and catchers could have clear Oakley visor in that gap on the mask across the eyes similar to football players instead of just having a tinted visor on top to block the sun like in the picture," the person wrote. This incident comes as the Angels are in a team in transition. They recently fired their manager Joe Maddon and replaced him with Phil Nevin who was the team's third-base coach. 

"People know that I've wanted to have this opportunity, and this isn't how I envisioned it," Nevin said, per ESPN. "I envisioned this being a happy, great day, and addressing the media, the players, the staff, but obviously this is under different circumstances. And I don't feel those same emotions. I am excited. Absolutely. I'm excited for this opportunity. The conversation I had with Joe earlier really set me at ease. He was great; told me to just take this and run with it and be the person I am, which I plan to do. So that made it easier on me because it has been an emotional day."  

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