Expos Vladimir Guerrero Almost Ends 73 Year Old 3rd Base Coach Tommy Lasorda With Broken Bat

Someone did get hit with the shattered barrel of a bat during the All-Star Game.
Tommy Lasorda, usually in the center of things, got thwacked on the left hip by Vladimir Guerrero's bat barrel, tumbling back as fans gasped and then laughed when they realized he was OK.

"I've coached third base many, many years and never been hit," Lasorda said after the National League's 4-1 loss Tuesday night. "I never saw the bat coming at me. If I had seen that bat coming at me, I would have had all the time in the world to get away from it. I saw the ball go down the right-field line. I was following the ball."

Lasorda, the NL's honorary manager, was in the third-base coach's box in the sixth inning when Guerrero's bat splintered apart on Mike Stanton's pitch. Lasorda tumbled backward, heels over head, then quickly got up.

"I'm not quite as agile as I used to be," he said. "I'll be 74 in a couple months."
When it was clear the Hall of Fame manager was unhurt, Barry Bonds ran out of the NL dugout and tried to put a chest protector on him.

Lasorda's close call brought back memories of Game 2 of last year's World Series, when Roger Clemens threw the jagged barrel of Mike Piazza's broken bat in front of the Mets catcher's path. Earlier Tuesday night, when Piazza faced the Yankees' starter for the first time since that game, nothing dramatic happened.

"I just thank God he's not hurt," said Piazza, who is very good friends with Lasorda from his days with the Dodgers. "I'm just happy we can laugh. For about five seconds, I was really scared."

When Yankees coach Don Zimmer saw Lasorda get hit by the bat, the AL coach laughed, then lowered his head below the protective screen that rises from the top step of the dugout.

Two years ago, Zimmer's ear and left jaw were cut by Chuck Knoblauch's foul ball against Texas in the AL playoffs, and Zimmer sat in the dugout the next day wearing a military helmet with the Yankees' logo.
"Why the hell didn't he get out there?" Lasorda said, laughing.