MLB: Ouch! Scary moment home plate umpire is smashed in the helmet by a 99mph fast ball

Ouch! Scary moment home plate umpire in Yankees-Cardinals game is smashed in the helmet by a 99mph fast ball… and has to be held up by catcher Yadier Molino while he recovers

  • MLB umpire Ed Hickox was viciously struck in the helmet by a baseball 
  • Cardinals pitcher Ryan Hensley’s 99mph pitch ricocheted into the 60-year-old
  • Hickox also received widespread criticism for his adjudication during the game 
  • The Yankees endured their fifth-straight defeat with a 12-9 loss in Missouri 
  • Meanwhile St. Louis extended their winning streak to seven games  

Ever woken up feeling like you’ve been hit by a 99 mile-per-hour fastball? 

Home plate umpire Ed Hickox will tomorrow. The 60-year-old was already having a tough day at the office in St. Louis and then reality hit, quite literally.

At the top of the eighth inning, with St. Louis leading the Yankees 9-8, Cardinals pitcher Ryan Hensley delivered a 99mph bomb which ricocheted off the bat of New York’s Jose Trevino, right into the grill of Hickox. 

Umpire Ed Hickox got more than he bargained for during the Yankees-Cardinals game Sunday

The 60-year-old umpire (pictured right arguing with Aaron Boone) was struck by a fast ball

The 60-year-old umpire (pictured right arguing with Aaron Boone) was struck by a fast ball

The longtime baseball ump was visibly and immediately shaken from the blow, wobbling before St. Louis catcher Yadier Molino intervened, stopping him from a potential fall. 

Incredibly, the Florida native carried on, finishing out the game as the Cards piled on three more runs to extend New York’s recent misery. 

This isn’t the first time Hickox has been leveled by a stray baseball during his 17-year MLB career.

Several broken facial bones and concussions have come and gone while serving as the home plate umpire. Hickox suffered a severe concussion and left ear injury while umpiring another Yankees game, this time during April 2009. 

Hickox called this pitch a strike much to the ire of Yankees skipper Boone and many following the game on social media

Hickox called this pitch a strike much to the ire of Yankees skipper Boone and many following the game on social media 

Bizarrely, the former Eagle Scout has been previously struck by a 99mph fastball, which incidentally was also a foul ball. 

During an LA Dodgers game in July 2013, Hickox was smacked in the face by the ball.  He bravely finished out the game but was replaced on the following day for a suspected concussion.

On Sunday, the home plate umpire received widespread criticism of social media throughout the game for a series of particularly puzzling calls. 

Social media was outraged by some of Hickox's adjudication during the Cardinals' 12-9 victory

Social media was outraged by some of Hickox’s adjudication during the Cardinals’ 12-9 victory

The win completed a St. Louis sweep, who became the first NL team to achieve a three-game sweep of the Yanks in 15 years.

Since interleague play began in 1977, the Yankees have been swept just four times by NL teams. 

New York have a chance to arrest their slide in Seattle Monday night, meanwhile St. Louis will look to extend their seven-game win streak in Colorado come Tuesday. 

***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk