JOURNAL: Sportsmanship Always Welcomed

“Both boys were inconsolable, my son was crying. The batter was even worse than my son, he was so upset,” Malcolm Hoffman said. “My son is pitching, he’s 11 years old, he’s just beside himself. They stop the game, they realize it’s his dad and the batter was just blubbering. He thought he’d killed me.”

“By the time I realized it was dad, he was starting to wake back up to the point where he could console me. His mind was boggled you could tell,” Alex Hoffman said.

Malcolm was unconscious for about one minute.

In spite of feeling groggy, Malcolm had to get himself together and go give both his son and the batter a hug so the game could continue.

The game was halted for about 10 minutes before play resumed.

“This whole time, I’ve got an egg on the side of my head, just a huge egg on the side of my head,” Malcolm Hoffman said. “The umpires were really cool, I knew them of course.”

Later, the announcers presented Malcolm with an audio of what the play-byplay sounded like during the incident.

“Alex Hoffman winds up, here’s the throw. It’s a foul ball into deep right field — oh my God, it just hit that man, he looks like he’s unconscious.”

“They made a big deal out of it being the pitcher’s father,” Alex Hoffman said.

After both Alex and batter were satisfied that Malcolm was going to be OK the game got going again and the at-bat continued.

“I ended up striking the kid out after five pitches. I guess I got mad at that guy,” Alex Hoffman said.

Alex’s team ended up winning the tournament.

Nowadays, Malcolm and Alex both laugh about the incident, although they both admit neither thought it was funny when it occurred. Malcolm took the audio tape of the at-bat and played it during a card game.

“There was laughter for 10-15 minutes, they just could not believe it.”

A similar play occurred at a Farmington High School baseball game during the 2013 season with a high foul ball going over the backstop and dropping down onto the concrete in front of the seating behind home plate.

A lady in the front row moved to avoid the ball but it bounced sideways and hit her in the head. Brad Blew, Farmington’s athletic director, was present. Both he and Cardinal baseball coach Jay Harper immediately came over to check on the lady.

She was smarting from the impact yet declared she was OK.

And on senior night against Cedarville April 22, Adam Ness fouled off a pitch that sailed high over the net and landed in a fan’s newly purchased nachos at the concession stand prompting Farmington School Board president Jeff Oxford to comment in jest “free hotdogs for everybody.”

“That is a first there,” Blew said.

As if that wasn’t enough excitement, the Cardinals turned a triple play in the top of the fourth inning with runners at first and second with Levi Strope on the mound.

“I’ve never turned a triple play in my whole life,” said Cardinal Keaton Austin, marveling over the feat.

And to wrap up the evening, Prairie Grove baseball coach Mitch Cameron, who was scouting, saw a wallet on the ground that had fallen out of the pocket of a Farmington fan sitting in the upper row of the bleachers and quickly returned it to its owner.

That’s baseball, you never know which way the ball might bounce. Yet, regardless of the outcome, sportsmanship is always welcome at every ballpark.