Umpire Hospitalized After Frightening Hit to Head in Yankees-Guardians Game

He was hit in the head by a relay throw and had to leave the game.

MLB umpire Larry Vanover was hospitalized Wednesday after a scary sequence during the Yankees-Guardians game where he was hit in the head with a baseball. 

In the top of the fifth inning, Guardians All-Star second baseman Andrés Giménez was trying to make a relay throw to home plate but accidentally hit Vanover, who positioned between second and the mound, on the left side of his head. Vanover, 67, quickly rose to his feet but was immediately met with concerns from Cleveland’s trainer.

He slowly walked off the field and did not return. He went to the Cleveland Clinic where he was evaluated for a concussion “and other potential medical issues. The timeline on his return is to be determined,” MLB said. 

Scary scene in Cleveland as umpire Larry Vanover is hit by a relay throw from Andrés Giménez. Vanover thankfully left the field on his own power. pic.twitter.com/Wnp6UDXOO5

— Casey Drottar (@CDrottar19) April 12, 2023

After the game, umpire Chris Guccione told a pool reporter that Vanover had “a pretty good-sized knot” on his head, according to the Associated Press. 

“They’re going to do a concussion test and it sounded like he was coherent and that he knew kind of what was going on,” Guccione said. “But he did have that glazed look on him. He’s going to be at the hospital for the rest of the night maybe.

“That was scary. Very hard to focus after that after you see a colleague get hit,” he continued. “But they gave me updates, and I was like, ‘All right. He’s good. He’s in safe hands.’ So, we moved on.”