Cuts » penalty now presents Ferrari with the chance to claim a rare fro

The most horrifying sight in baseball is to see a batter get hit in the head with a pitch or a pitcher get struck in the head by a line drive. Earlier this week at Tropicana Field, Blue Jays lefty J.A Happ could have had his career, if not his life, ended by a line shot up the middle by the Rays Desmond Jennings that struck him in the skull near his left ear. Happ was fortunate to escape with a small fracture behind his left ear, a lacerated ear, and an injury to his right knee, from the awkward way he fell when nailed by the ball. Happ is estimated to be out anywhere from 3-6 weeks. Even close calls like this can be career-altering. Reliever Rob Dibble, one of the Nasty Boys World Series-winning bullpen of the Cincinnati Reds in 1990, remembered facing Hall of Famer Eddie Murray, then with Cleveland, in a game a few years later. Murray hit a screaming liner up the middle and by some miracle, Dibble got his glove up and caught the ball at the last second. Dibble said that incident changed him. He claimed to never fully trust his stuff again after that and was never quite the same pitcher, ultimately out of the game a couple of years later. The most frightening and gruesome incident I ever saw occurred on September 8th, 2000. Ryan Thompson of the Yankees hit one back through the box and it struck Red Sox reliever Bryce Florie square in the face. He simply had no time to react. Sport Science estimated the ball was travelling at 120 miles per hour and hit Florie with a force of 5,500 pounds. Florie suffered several facial fractures and partial vision loss in his right eye. There was blood everywhere. Believe it or not, Florie actually briefly made it back to the Majors the following year, but quickly left the game as a player thereafter. Baseball took a long time to develop protection for batters and even the coaches manning the bases. Ray Chapman, the star shortstop of the 1920 Cleveland Indians, is still the only Major League player to die from an on-field incident. He was struck on the side of the head by a pitcher from the Yankees sidearm hurler Carl Mays on August 16th, 1920 and died 12 hours later in hospital. Though various players experimented with head protection over the years, the first true well-marketed batting helmet wasnt produced until 1952. Oddly enough, the man responsible was the same man who brought Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. Branch Rickey was the general manager of Pittsburgh Pirates in 1952 and commissioned one of his front office team, Charlie Muse to come up with something that would offer protection to the players when they stepped up to the plate. Muse obliged and Rickeys own outfit, the American Cap Company, would market these helmets. But it wasnt until 1971 that helmets became mandatory and even then, there was a grandfathering rule that gave veteran players the right to choose whether to wear them or not for the remainder of their careers. The last player not to wear a helmet was former Red Sox catcher and later broadcaster Bob Montgomery, who played until 1979. Montgomery also spent some time in Toronto catching for the old Maple Leafs of the International League, then a Boston affiliate. Even the helmet with at least one earflap wasnt made manditory until 1983. The point is baseball moves slowly. Efforts are being made to develop some sort of padding that could at least be fitted into a pitchers cap to protect the skull to a degree. But I doubt well ever see the day a pitcher wears the type of helmet a batter does. Pitchers maintain it would be too cumbersome, too uncomfortable and would affect their performance. I can guarantee well never see the day when a pitcher wears a full facial shield or mask but a cap insert is an important and necessary step to give pitchers some semblence of protection and a chance to at least escape more serious injury in baseballs most frightening and dangerous plays. Numbers Game Last season , the Baltimore Orioles made their season with their record in one run games (29-9) and extra inning contests (16-2). Already this season, the Blue Jays are 4-8 in one run games and 1-3 in extras, not to mention 6-14 against their own division, including 3-10 against the the Yankees and Red Sox. That does not bode well, especially with the starting rotation ravaged by injuries. Air Max 97 Mid x Riccardo Tisci .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. Air Max 97 Homme Grise . -- There were so many positives from the Orlando Magics first victory of the season that it was hard for coach Jacque Vaughn to stop praising his players. http://www.basketsliponpascher.fr/air-force-1-sf-92-jt/ .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. Air Max 270 Flyknit Pas Cher . Fernandez, coached in Toronto by former two-time Olympic silver medallist Brian Orser, scored 267.11 points and is the first champion to successfully defend since Russias Evgeny Plushenko in 2005 and 2006. Vans Sk8 Hi Noir . -- Jimmy Walkers first PGA Tour trophy came with a special gift tucked inside.Lewis Hamiltons hopes of ending Nico Rosbergs winning run at the Chinese GP have suffered a blow after it was revealed he will take a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change. The world champion, the polesitter at 2016s opening two rounds, will start no higher than sixth for Sundays race after Mercedes opted to change the gearbox in his car after it sustained damage in Bahrain. Hamilton confirmed the contact with Valtteri Bottas at turn one two weeks ago was not the cause.F1 gearboxes have to last for six consecutive race weekends. It has been a good track to me for many years so I feel good coming here, Hamilton told Sky Sports F1.Naturally when you arrive in Shanghai and find out youre already going to be starting five places behind wherever I qualify is a kick in the goonies, but you just take it. Challenge is another opportunity to arise, rather than looking at the glass half empty, look at it half full. When is the Chinese GP on Sky? All the broadcast times you need for this weekends exclusively live race. Mercedes later tweeted: Not the ideal start to the #ChineseGP weekend, admittedly, but of all the places to take a grid hit, this is one of the better ones.Despite the damage to the gearbox not being the result of accident damage, Hamilton insists he is not worried about the reliability going forward.Rosberg: Lewis still a threatNot for me. They change it and I go again. I dont use it as a concern, Im sure the team are focussed on it, he said.Asked what caused the damage he responded: It doesnt really matter.Following poor starts from pole in each of the first two races, Hamilton already trails Rosberg by 17 points in the Drivers Championship. The Briton has started either first or second amid a run of eight consecutive Mercedes front-row lockouts, with last Septembers Singapore GP the only time in the last 29 races Hamilton has not started in the front two.Hamiltons penalty now presents Ferrari with the chance to claim a rare front-row start as they look to recover from reliability problems in the first two races which have left them 50 points behind Mercedes in the Constructors Championship. Chinese GP talking points Would another Nico win dent Lewiss confidence? Where are McLaren? And can Haas do it again? With Rosberg on a run of five consecutive victories since his team-mate clinched his third world title in Austin last October, Hamilton will now bid to improve on a statistic which has seen him only win once - the 2014 British GP - when starting from outside the first two rows.ddddddddddddThe 31-year-old has won a record four times in Shanghai, including the last two seasons. The last four times Hamilton has started lower than fifth Race Started Finished 2014 Hungarian GP 22nd 3rd 2014 German GP 20th 3rd 2014 British GP 6th 1st 2014 Austrian GP 9th 2nd Watch the Chinese GP weekend - LIVE ONLY on Sky Sports F1. The race starts at 7am on Sunday, with build-up underway from 5.30am. Or watch without a contract for £6.99 on NOW TV. Also See: Chinese GP talking points When is the Chinese GP on Sky? ' ' '