Somehow I managed to turn my face into the pitch. As I am a right handed hitter and it hit me on my left cheek. When I went back into the dugout, somebody on the team asked me where the ball hit me. I said, "My face." They didn't believe me.

Over the next two innings my jaw proceeded to swell gradually, to the point where I had to switch from my one piece hockey mask to the more traditional two piece mask because I literally couldn't fit my swollen face into the mask.

After two innings, I was taking off my gear to hit and my manager stepped in front of me on my way to the on-deck circle and said, "I'm taking you out of the game." Using half of my jaw to talk like a stroke victim, I pleaded my case that I was fine and could finish the game. He informed me that he was taking me out and also that he had procured me a ride to the emergency room.

I sat in there for 2 hours before they took me and then another hour waiting for the X-Ray. I was fortunate because it turned out to be only a minor dislocation and I didn't need to have it wired shut or anything like that.

It stayed swollen for a couple of weeks after that. For several months after that it would hurt more when it was about to rain.