Broken bat injury

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/Cubs-Tyler-Colvin-hospitalized-after-broken-bat?urn=mlb-270755

Cubs' Tyler Colvin hospitalized after broken bat punctures chest
By David Brown


Check out the flying object heading toward the chest of Chicago Cubs rookie Tyler Colvin(notes) on Sunday afternoon. As the frightening screen capture provided by Keith Olbermann (of all people) shows, Colvin's upper left chest was punctured by a flying piece of Welington Castillo's(notes) bat as Colvin came home from third to score on a double.

If the term "impaled" doesn't do the job by itself, the aftermath makes for one of the scariest baseball injuries in recent memory. Colvin needed to be hospitalized because of a wound described as "fairly deep." Sutures helped to close the wound and a tube was inserted into Colvin's lung to prevent it from collapsing.

The good news is that Colvin is going to be fine, but the bad news is that his promising rookie season is over. Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune reports that Colvin will remain in the hospital for a few days for observation and won't play for the next two weeks.

As 'Duk writes in another Big League Stew post, this incident is sure to intensify the debate over baseball's use of maple bats. They're the villain du jour in the sport — with plenty of reason — and though Castillo's bat looks like ash, it's actually made of Canadian maple.
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Imagine if the bat went into the stands and hit a patron who was not paying attention?