Referee Takes Blow to Head from Stanton’s Broken Bat

NEW YORK — Home plate umpire Nick Mahrley was struck in the head by a splintered bat from New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton and carried off the field in the fifth inning of Sunday’s game against the Colorado Rockies at Yankee Stadium.

Stanton’s bat broke at the handle, striking Mahrley on the left side of his head and neck. Multiple trainers and emergency personnel attended to Mahrley, a 41-year-old Illinois native in his second year as a full-time MLB umpire.

After being hit, Mahrley sat on one knee for several minutes before being strapped to a stretcher and loaded into the cart, which was wheeled around the warning track and out the center field exit. He left to cheers from the crowd, with crew chief Marvin Hudson taking over.

Stanton’s swing, which reached 85.1 mph, resulted in a single, and he watched from first base as Mahrley got help. Stanton later walked over to Mahrley and the group and watched as the umpire was led away.

“That was bad. (I) didn’t see it until the replay,” Stanton said. “(He) took it like a champ, you know. When I was in the box, I didn’t hear anything, no groaning or anything. He took it like a champ.”

During the seventh inning, the Yankees announced in the press box that Mahrley was being examined by the team’s medical staff and would “undergo a battery of tests.”

“That was a tough one, man. Any time you see an umpire or a player go down with a head injury, it really helps you get back up. It really does,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “When you see a neck brace, you see a stretcher — that’s not all good stuff. Hopefully Nick will be OK. I haven’t heard anything since the game. But those umpires, they’re good guys. They’re a big part of our game and they’re exposed behind the plate every night, just like a catcher.”

Also during the game, Yankees star Aaron Judge hit his 50th and 51st home runs of the season, the most in the majors.

(Photo by referee Nick Mahrley: Ron Chenoy/USA Today)