Atlanta Braves Coach Loses Eye at Spring Training Game

Luis Salazar was hit in the face by a line drive March 9.

Doctors said they were unable to save Salazar’s left eye after he was struck in the face with a speeding baseball while standing in the dugout at a spring training game between the Braves and the St. Louis Cardinals in Florida last week. The 54-year-old coach of the Braves’ minor league affiliate was serving as an extra training coach for the major league team when he was hit by a foul ball off Brian McCann’s bat. The game was suspended for 20 minutes while Salazar, a former major league player, was lifted to an Orlando hospital where he was treated for multiple facial injuries. McCann was shaken up and didn’t return to the game. He later visited Salazar in hospital.