MLB Umpire Larry Vanover, an Owensboro native, was hit in the head with a relay throw during the fifth inning of Wednesday’s game between the New York Yankees and Cleveland Guardians. Vanover exited the game under his own power but was taken to the hospital for evaluation.
According to the Associated Press, Vanover was being evaluated for a concussion and other injuries at the Cleveland Clinic late Wednesday.
Vanover, who is 67, was the second base umpire. He was between the pitcher’s mound and second base when Guardians second baseman Andrés Giménez accidentally hit Vanover with a throw towards home plate.
The ball knocked Vanover on the left side of his head near his ear, knocking his hat off and making him fall to the ground. Vanover got up moments later but exited the game.
Here’s a clip of the incident:
Scary scene in Cleveland as umpire Larry Vanover is hit by a relay throw from Andrés Giménez. Vanover thankfully left the field on his own power. pic.twitter.com/Wnp6UDXOO5
— Casey Drottar (@CDrottar19) April 12, 2023
A native of Owensboro, Vanover has 29 years of major league umpiring experience.
According to the Associated Press, after the game plate umpire Chris Guccione told a pool reporter that Vanover had “a pretty good-sized knot” on his head and he was going to undergo a CT (imaging) scan.
AP reported that Guccione said “They’re going to do a concussion test and it sounded like he was coherent and that he knew kind of what was going on. … That was scary. Very hard to focus after that after you see a colleague get hit. But they gave me updates, and I was like, ‘All right. He’s good. He’s in safe hands.’ So, we moved on.”
