There have been been nasty, ugly beanball incidents over the years in baseball, but perhaps nothing was as shocking or deplorable as what happened 10 years ago this month, when Wichita State ace and MLB prospect Ben Christensen - thinking that Evansville lead-off hitter was Anthony Molina was “timing” his warm-up pitches from the on-deck circle, drilled an unaware Moilina with a 92 mph fastball, almost killing him.

In one instant Molina - a scrappy player with possible pro prospects of his own - saw his baseball career end as the left side of his face was essentially caved in. The BLOOMNGTON PANTAGRAPH caught up with Molina recently, and learned that while he’s tried to move on, he’s still dealing with wounds from that dreadful moment - both physical and emotional.

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For those living outside of Blowtown The Windy City, you may remember Steve Bartman as “that guy who caught that ball in that Cubs game and they went on to lose the playoffs or something.” While history almost repeated itself at Wrigley last month, ESPN’s Mark Schlabach reported a much closer life-imitates-Cubs-baseball moment in Sunday’s NCAA baseball super regional between Florida State and Wichita State.

Down 6-0 to the FSU Seminoles, Wichita State batter Andy Dirks hit a foul ball near the left field stands. The fielder raced for the pop fly, but a Seminoles fan reached out and made an impressive catch, sealing the pitch’s fate as a foul ball. The next pitch? You guessed it — a 2-run home run to start a rally. Read more…