Paper revisits former college player who was intentionally beaned while on deck

Nice update on former college player who was intentionally beaned, while standing less than 25 feet away in the on-deck circle, by a 92 mph heater.
The pitcher thought the guy was trying to time his pitches.
http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2009/04/28/usports/doc49f652c55f53c953706317.txt

There is a related story on Christenson, who declines to be interviewed.

 

wow

was this guy ever brought up on charges or anything? I don't remember hearing about this. what a cowardly act

interesting story ... seemed like there's a lot more there? ... can just hear the guy telling his boss he's doing this piece on Molina 10 years later and the guy saying, "Yeah, great stuff. We have room for 14 inches."

oh well

 

Good for Molina, but Christenson's a coward.

 

I still can't believe Christensen didn't get his ass kicked right there on the field after it happened.

 

If I remember correctly, Wichita State coach Gene Stephenson, one of the legendary figures in college baseball, actually backed Christensen after the incident.

Christensen ended up being a first-round pick by the Cubs, but blew out his arm before he reached the majors, so I guess you could say he got his. There were many at the time that advocated Christensen giving part of his signing bonus to Molina, but I'm not sure the two ever spoke.

 

http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2009/04/28/usports/doc49f6546f85d95916560877.txt

Of course you don't want to talk, you chickenshit pussy.

Did you bean anybody in AA when they were riding your pus-armed shit out of the yard?

And I'd like an extra order of fries with that, too. Make it quick.

 

I remember that story. Christensen is one of the biggest cowards I've ever heard of.

 

What makes baseball players such arrogant buttheads?

I mean even more than typical athletes we cover. Is it the direct confrontation with the pitcher and the confidence that it takes? The tradition of taunting the batter and pitcher? The insulation and isolation of the clubhouse and dugout? The whole fierceness of the pecking order from high school or vacant lot, all the way up to the Bigs?

I don't live the game. I just cover it the same way I do other events.

It just seems to me that, even in high school, baseball players are a different animal. And many of them aren't very easy to deal with.

Sadly, I'm willing to bet that Christensen finds a way to justify this assault even today. Perhaps he might even blame the backlash for his sucky professional career.

 

According to Molina, the two never spoke.

 

A few things I recall from the story:

1) Christensen tried to apologize personally, but Molina (understandably) wasn't interested.

2) Molina wasn't 25 feet from Christensen, he was 25 feet away from the plate.

3) Christensen claimed he wasn't trying to hit Molina, just buzz him, and that the whole pitching staff was ordered by the coaches to do that if someone was timing them in the on-deck circle

4) None of that changes the fact that Christensen should never have been allowed to play organized baseball again and I was really disappointed the Cubs drafted him. It was an unfortunate accident, but he showed incredibly poor judgment and mere lack of intent doesn't absolve you of guilt when there's that level of negligence.

 

Here's an old BA story from 2002 about the incident. There was a lawsuit that was settled, so it appears Molina got some money:

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/news/020205christensen.html

And there's also this, as RickStain mentioned:

As for the article(s) that spawned this thread, it never really makes clear why the incident ruined Molina's potential coaching career. Was it because of the psychological trauma or because his vision was damaged?

Anyway, you would think one of his old college coaches would hire him as a GA or something if he really wanted to be a college or pro coach.

 

That could have been an interesting story.