#A-Z: Death By... Bat

Who or what event is portrayed in this story?

Jim wanted another shut-out game. From his very first shut-out two years before, he aspired to striking out each player he went up against.

Holding the ball between his knees, he licked his palms and rubbed his face. The stubble scratched him.

While Brainard had pitched the first five innings and Jim had spent the innings in the infield, the six inning Jim was assigned to the pitcher’s mound—a place he felt comfortable. He kicked at the dirt beneath his shoe, digging in.

He gave the small ball a tight squeeze in his right hand then twirled it around in his fingers, determining the next pitch. Would he use his classic ‘speedball’ or his slower ‘dew-drop’? Some had described his pitch as low and swift, rising from the ground past the shoulder to the catcher but he didn’t care what they called it as long as the batter didn’t see it coming.

He nodded to the catcher and with imperceptible movement of either the elbow or wrist delivered the baseball with the speed of a cannon.

Strike three!

The team raised a shout and headed in, towards the dugout, patting each other on the back. One by one, the batters on his team stepped up to the plate. Jim had hit four doubles in four at bats. He couldn’t wait to get up to plate and score a home run.

When it was Jim’s turn, he grabbed his bat and headed out. He gave the catcher, George, a nod. Separating his hands on the bat, he swung his bat a few times in anticipation. The pitcher moved his head back and forth and shook out his shoulders.

‘Throw a nice one,’ repeated Jim in a whisper.

The ball was thrown and with little or no turn of the wrists, Jim swung. The incredible torque applied by the twisting motion of his upper body hit the ball with a loud crack.

‘Run, run, run,’ his teammates cheered behind him.

Jim watched the ball fly high in the air. Though the outfielders were all running back, he knew it would be a home run.

First base.

Second base.

Third base.

Finally, he reached home. The catcher was standing, glove at his side, not expecting to need it.

'I must have snapped my belt,' said Jim, referring to something he heard earlier.

George looked down at his waist and said, 'I guess not.'

Jim returned to the dug out, he wave to his adoring and cheering fans and accepted the complements and kind pats on the butt.

Little did he know, that would be the last game he ever played.

After the game, Jim began to experience severe pain in his abdomen and he died in his home on October 18 at the age of 21 years.

Who or what event is portrayed in this story?

The previous Death By … story is based on:

Valentin Bondarenko was a Ukrainian cosmonaut. On March 23, 1961, in the oxygen-rich atmosphere of a training simulator, he removed some biosensors from his body and used a cotton ball moistened with alcohol to wash the sticky stuff off his skin. He tossed the cotton ball aside and it landed on an electric hot plate, where it caught fire. The fire ignited Bondarenko's suit.

Because of the pressure difference between the simulator and outside, it took several minutes for an attending doctor to get in and help him. He suffered third-degree burns over nearly the whole of his body: only the soles of his feet were relatively unharmed, as his flight boots had protected them. He died of shock eight hours after the accident. 

Sources:

http://deathaday.blogspot.mx/2008/03/march-23-valentin-bondarenko.html

http://www.jamesoberg.com/usd10.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentin_Bondarenko