Referees are used to being hit by baseball, but they rarely have to deal with it while doing bases. Junior Valentine was the victim of a rare direct goal as he refereed first base in a Cardinals-Mets game Monday night in New York City. He didn’t expect that either.
Valentine was punched in the face near his right cheek by a misplaced cardinal, Edmund Sosa’s short circuit. The second-year MLB referee rightly assumed that Sosa could not approach him by turning out of balance behind the second base. He was focused on making calls as Kevin Pillar of the Mets raced for first base.
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The throw knocked down and bled Valentine, who remained in the game despite the great abrasion.
Call it a kick in the backyard, twice.
“No one expected that. He was quite far away there,” the cardinal said Adam Wainwright told MLB.com. “It was louder than anything I heard the referee hit. I was very sorry for him. What a male to stay in the game. His face was bleeding pretty well. The ball centered him.”
Referee team manager Jerry Meals said in a post-match statement that Valentino was “doing well”.
“He’s checked out and there are no broken bones,” Meals adds. “He was incredibly awake from the start. The blood seemed to stop pretty quickly, thankfully, and he was adamant that he was fine.”
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Sosa was not expelled due to contact with the judge. His throw was obviously an accident.
Valentine worked in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League this year in addition to the major. He made his debut for the big league in 2020.
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