Lucas Holko

I just thought I would take a second to put up a couple of links. As a fan of baseball at the lower levels, and as someone who goes to a lot of games, I am aware of the dangers of foul balls.

I have seen a few close calls. Most fans that attend games regularly have seen someone take an injury from a flying ball. I once saw a third base coach politely but firmly advise a mother holding a very small baby to think about setting in a different area.

I personally like getting a seat near 1st or 3rd. I hate having the net in front of me.

I have some personal close call stories myself. My wife and I changed seats at a game in Augusta New Jersey several years ago. As the game went on, we decided to set on the opposite side of the field for some different photo angles. After setting down, and getting comfortable in our new area, a foul ball smacked the seat we had been setting in, putting a dent in it. If we had still been setting there, we would have been hit. The ball went from the hitter's bat to smacking the seat in a fraction of a second. There would have been absolutely no time to react. We also were inches from a Gary Matthews Jr. foul ball a couple of years ago at Spring Training.

Things happen though. Anyone at a game is taking a chance (pretty much a small chance generally). The chances of really getting injured from a foul ball are small. In fact, I personally don't worry about such things.

Which brings me to Lucas Holko. On September 2nd, Lucas was at one of my all time favorite parks watching a team I have seen many times- the Mahoning Valley Scrappers. I have mentioned them before. Great park and a great team. The Scrappers play right behind a mall in a pretty rural area. 4 year old Lucas was setting in his dad's lap at the time when he was hit with a foul ball. Lucas is being treated at Akron Children's Hospital.

Anyway, please take a moment to read about Lucas. Here is an article on the Scrapper's web site:

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090910&content_id=6896738&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp

Here is a link to the Holko family's website with updates on Lucas:

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/lucasholko

The family has put some exciting updates about his progress on the site. Please take a moment to check it out. I don't know what else to say about this, but I think it is sweet when a family goes out to a ball game together. The Holkos were out enjoying a game together when this fluke accident occurred.