That near-fatal day left an imprint that goes beyond what the seams of the ball left on his forehead. Keane was invited to throw out the first ball of the season at Red Sox Opening Day in 1983. He is ever thankful to Rice, who he recently reconnected with through the New England Sports Network (NESN), where Rice serves as a pregame broadcaster for Red Sox games. He has a small scar just above his left eyebrow that he doesn’t mind showing to a curious questioner and an annual anniversary to remind him of what happened the day Stapleton, his favorite Red Sox player, hit a line drive foul ball that fractured his skull and left 33,595 spectators wondering what might happen to the tiny limp body in Rice’s arms. He doesn’t remember the five days he spent in Children’s Hospital, but he does recall his chance to throw out the Red Sox first pitch of Opening Day in 1983, joining the father of retiring Boston legend Carl Yastrzemski in that ceremonial toss. Jonathan Keane has no memory of that family trip from his home in Greenland, New Hampshire, to Fenway Park with his father and younger brother Matt. “So I went and got him.” Outfielder Jim Rice carries injured Jonathan Keane to the Red Sox dugout during a 1982 game. “I asked what happened,” Rice says, remembering that day this summer on the 40th anniversary of the incident. He took the boy out of his seat, rushed him to the Red Sox lockerroom and made sure he received treatment from team physician Arthur Papas before an ambulance whisked him away to Boston Children’s Hospital. 7, 1982, almost certainly did when the former American League Most Valuable Player and future member of the Baseball Hall of Fame raced into the stands to grab a 4-year-old boy who had been hit in the forehead by a foul ball off the bat of Red Sox shortstop Dave Stapleton.Īs everyone else sat horrified, Rice acted. What Boston Red Sox outfielder Jim Rice did on Aug. None of those events saved a life, however. Bush’s first pitch at Yankee Stadium after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and anything Jackie Robinson and Larry Doby endured on the field during the 1947 season when they integrated professional sports. It was one of the most heroic moments in Major League Baseball history, up there with Rick Monday saving the American flag from protesters who were trying to set it on fire in the outfield of Dodger Stadium, President George W.
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