He went on to play 10 more seasons with the Astros, Padres, Phillies, Rangers and Brewers, but was never the same. Here are the Los Angeles Times’ editorial board endorsements for president, California ballot measures and more. That's the day Thon's baseball career and life changed forever. Thon doesn’t believe it himself, which is why, he says, there is no bitterness.

He was never the same candidate for greatness that he had been prior to April 8, 1984. Richard William Thon (born June 20, 1958), is a Puerto Rican-American former professional baseball shortstop, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the California Angels, Houston Astros, San Diego Padres, Philadelphia Phillies, Texas Rangers, and Milwaukee Brewers, during the course of his 1 He was released by the Mets before the end of the season. Astros Shortstop Dickie Thon Was Hit By A Pitch That Changed His Career By Jay RodriguezFeb 27, 2020 There's been lots of talk about the Astros players being hit by pitches this season. Bryan is an orthopedic surgeon, not an eye specialist. “I hope they do, because that’s his strength,” Menke said. You can’t feel sorry for what happened. Eyeglasses can’t help Thon, Bryan said. “A guy in Puerto Rico was all over her.

I can’t recall how much time then passed before we got the word that he had survived, for the moment, but no one took anything for granted. It was a fastball from Mike Torrez of the Mets that nailed a frozen Dickie Thon of the Astros in the face at the Astrodome in a night game on April 8, 1984. “He (Torrez) called me,” Thon said. HOUSTON -- Dickie Thon watched the replays of Braves outfielder Jason Heyward getting hit in the face by a pitch Wednesday night and immediately had memories of April 8, 1984. “I don’t think he ever conquered the fear,” Denis Menke said. .

“I just stood there. “I’m rushing everything. When I saw it, it was too late.”. Browse and buy exceptional, royalty-free stock clips, handpicked by the best. It was a pitch that could have killed him as surely as the submarine shot from pitcher Carl Mays once killed Ray Chapman in 1920.

But as team doctor, Bryan has come to know Thon well. In 1983, Thon was an All-Star, the National League’s answer to Robin Yount or Cal Ripken Jr., a shortstop who could field, hit and hit with power. “Hopefully, it’s getting better. Dickie is like that.

“That’s a decision we can’t help them with,” Bryan said. “I must have been a little gun-shy, because I never hit well after that,” he said. “And I remember being glad that it did. “I’m sorry if I sounded mean.”. “I didn’t know if I should play or not, but I’m seeing better and hopefully I’ll be able to adjust even if I don’t have my best eyesight.”. It was the most shocking and sickening moment that some of us will ever likely have again at any ballpark, anywhere.

But here, in Kissimmee, nothing matters more than the game. “It looks like he’s just trying to make contact, instead of saying the hell with it and swinging away,” Menke said. PB–Ashby 2 (2). Yeah, I definitely froze. Thon has no problem driving now, or reading a magazine, or playing with his daughters, Soleil Marie and Vanessa. We thought there may have been brain damage, but the neurosurgeon ruled that out.”. On that night, Dickie Thon sensed the danger but was frozen by it, locked in horrible fascination as Mike Torrez’s fastball hurtled toward him and finally exploded where the flap of his helmet met his face, the impact shattering the bones around his left eye as the helmet was driven into the side of his face. Blog at WordPress.com.

The pitch broke the orbital bone around his left eye and ended his 1984 season. He goes out there and doesn’t care who’s pitching.

Menke says Thon hasn’t been quite as aggressive at the plate. In 1991, Thon received the Tony Conigliaro Award in recognition of his recovery from this severe injury. “But it’s incredible, the power of the body and brain to adapt to such (visual) defects, and I think that’s what’s happening.”, Thon said there were times last season when he wasn’t sure he could make it back.

Next to pitcher J.R. Richard‘s mid-1980 stroke during a pre-game sideline tossing, no other on-field tragedy has struck the Houston Astros as hard as the horrific beaning of SS Dickie Thon a handful of games into the 1984 season. Maybe this time, reality will be sweeter than any dream. In fact, it happened to Alex Bregman yesterdayduring the spring training game with the Mets. He was real nice. “My timing is bad,” he said. Post jobs, find pros, and collaborate commission-free in our professional marketplace. ... Thon’s career pre-injury was that of a young and promising star. Coronavirus infections among school-age kids rose in September after classes resumed, Playgrounds can reopen in California with some COVID-19 restrictions. Ever. . Make social videos in an instant: use custom templates to tell the right story for your business. “Some people probably think we’re crazy, too,” Marshall said. — Dickie Thon (1985)1 .

“This is what I know how to do,” he said. Alan Menke now owns a bar, the Red Barn, in Bancroft, Iowa, a small town about 100 miles south of Minneapolis. Until the pitch by Reardon, Marshall never had been beaned in his life. “It affected his visual acuity--his ability to read letters--and his depth perception,” Bryan said. The rising fastball from Mets pitcher Mike Torrez sailed up and in, striking him flush in the face in the left-eye region. The 1984 season ended for Thon in the third inning of the fifth game, on a 1-2 pitch by the New York Mets’ Torrez, a right-hander nearing the end of an 18-year career.

There’s no doubt, Menke said, that if Thon makes it back, that’s the way opposing pitchers will work him, too. He doesn’t remember the name of the pitcher who hit him, but he remembers the lights being bad.

“You can’t discount the psychological side. HOUSTON -- Dickie Thon watched the replays of Braves outfielder Jason Heyward getting hit in the face by a pitch Wednesday night and immediately had memories of April 8, 1984.. That's the day Thon's baseball career and life changed forever. Fact-checking the debate: President Trump unleashed a blizzard of falsehoods; Joe Biden hewed closer to the truth, but strayed at times. SB–Puhl (1,2nd base off Torrez/Ortiz).

Leave her alone.”, Later, he explained. But he is here in the Astros’ training complex, a short ride from Disney World, to test the limits of what he can do with a bad eye. It was a fastball from Mike Torrez of the Mets that nailed a frozen Dickie Thon of the Astros in the face at the Astrodome in a night game on April 8, 1984. Upgrade your uploading by following our recommended video compression settings. But there are more important things.”. A Mike Torrez fastball broke the orbital bone around his left eye and ended Thon’s 1984 season only five games beyond Opening Day. That's a fine line that you have to have that ability. Dickie Thon profile page, biographical information, injury history and news I’m lucky to be alive.
Even changed and reduced in ability, he played for ten more seasons with the Astros, Padres, Phillies, Rangers and Brewers. The L.A. Times’ endorsements in the November 2020 election.

“I just hope Dickie comes back,” Marshall said the other day in the clubhouse at Dodgertown, the Dodgers’ spring training facility in Vero Beach. That alters your balance and makes it harder to get out of the way of a pitch that's headed for the body.
Inside. “At first I couldn’t see at all,” said Thon, whose vision had previously been 20-20. Thon returned home to Puerto Rico, where he had grown up, but quit after just three games. He was hit by a pitch only nine times in 4,871 career plate appearances. He was coming off a 20-home run year, was an outstanding defender and had the potential to … Neither can surgery. It's all about positivism and something good. One of the things Thon said he learned is you can't lean out over the plate expecting a pitch on the outside corner. Dickie Thon’s attempt at a comeback began in the Arizona Instructional League last fall.


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