Giancarlo Stanton Had Classy Message for Ump Stretchered Off After Being Hit By Bat

Nick Mahrley was stretchered out of Sunday's game, but it sounds like he'll be OK.
Home plate umpire Nick Mahrley is tended too after he was hit by a broken bat during a Giancarlo Stanton at-bat.
Home plate umpire Nick Mahrley is tended too after he was hit by a broken bat during a Giancarlo Stanton at-bat. / Jim McIsaac/Getty Images
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During Sunday's game between the New York Yankees and Colorado Rockies, home plate umpire Nick Mahrley was put in a neck brace and stretchered off after being hit by a broken bat during a Giancarlo Stanton at-bat. The league announced that he suffered a concussion and will miss a minimum of one series while he recovers.

Mahrley was keeled over for several minutes while medical staff tended to him after the entire barrel of Stanton's bat detached from the handle and launched backward, making contact in the neck/head area of the home plate umpire. After leaving the game, it proceeded with a three-man crew with no umpire manning third base.

Stanton had praise for Mahrley after the game and how he handled the freak play.

"That was bad... He took it like a champ though. When I was in the box I didn't hear anything... a groan or anything. Took it like a champ, think he's going to be OK."

Stanton went 2-for-3, including a hit on the broken-bat play. New York had 12 hits and would go on to win the rubber-match game 10-3.

It's Mahrley's second season as a full-time major league umpire.


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Josh Wilson

JOSH WILSON

Josh Wilson is the news director of the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in 2024, he worked for FanSided in a variety of roles, most recently as senior managing editor of the brand’s flagship site. He has also served as a general manager of Sportscasting, the sports arm of a start-up sports media company, where he oversaw the site’s editorial and business strategy. Wilson has a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from SUNY Cortland and a master’s in accountancy from the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois. He loves a good nonfiction book and enjoys learning and practicing Polish. Wilson lives in Chicago but was raised in upstate New York. He spent most of his life in the Northeast and briefly lived in Poland, where he ate an unhealthy amount of pastries for six months.