13-year-old Little Leaguer Dies
 

A 13-year-old Arizona boy was killed in a freak accident after a baseball hit him over the heart as he tried to bunt, officials in his Little League said Friday.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/L...311/?gt1=39002


*******
:( Life has no guarantees. This story truly made me sad and hurts my heart. :(

(No pun intended and no joke)

I feel terrible for his family but I also feel terrible for the little boy who pitched the ball. An accident is just that but he has got to be feeling guilty. No matter how many times I was told it wasn't my fault, no matter how much I knew it wasn't I would still feel awful.

Some leagues require a "heart guard" for kids <13 (sort of like a chest plate with bra straps), for just this reason ... obviously it's incredibly rare, and exceptionally unlucky to hit just right, but with millions of kids playing it happens every few years.

It's sad as hell. Just the worst thing ever: a kid who did nothing wrong, and losing the worst kind of lottery.

I second this.
And the pitcher has to be pretty young himself, since it is Little League.
They probably knew each other.

Just upsetting :(

:(

How aweful! :( I'm reminded of a childhood friend's Dad that died very similarly. He was catching the ball though.

I'm not sure that any kind of guards can totally protect the kids. My cousin was catcher in a College World Series game and he was wearing a cup and there was an accident... he and his wife weren't able to have biological children after that.