Before Monday’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the St. Louis Cardinals made an announcement regarding the status of two players: catcher Yadier Molina and ace Adam Wainwright. Then, the game and the otherwise encouraging news the Cardinals had revealed earlier in the day were overshadowed by Stephen Piscotty’s collision with Peter Bourjos in left-center field. Disabled list comebacks and even the National League Central race vanished. All that was left was to hope and pray for Piscotty’s recovery and to experience that sick feeling in the pit of one’s stomach that comes from witnessing a horrific sports injury.
Manager Mike Matheny lifted Matt Holliday, who is recovering from his second quad tear of the year, after the top of the seventh inning. In the outfield, Holliday was replaced by the swift Peter Bourjos. Jason Heyward was moved from center to right, and Piscotty was moved from right to left by Matheny. Josh Harrison strode to the plate to face Kevin Siegrist with that St. Louis defensive configuration in the outfield.
A flyball was lifted by Harrison to deep left-center. Right from the start, there was cause for concern as it was a well-hit ball. Harrison’s hit appeared to be problematic. That instinct came to pass, but for quite a different reason. At first crack of the bat, Bourjos was off like a shot. Piscotty was also. In the deepest part of PNC Park, close to the boundary between the warning track and the grass, both outfielders charged full speed toward the ball. And that was the instant Piscotty’s face collided with Bourjos’s knee.
There is an equal and opposite response to every action. Physics says that. There’s baseball, too. And in all my years, I have seldom wished that was not the case more than when Bourjos and Piscotty squared off in the PNC outfield. It was a collision similar to the gridiron, but with more damage. Piscotty was not donning a helmet designed to stop bone fractures but not concussions, and Bourjos was not sporting a kneepad. Piscotty was unconscious and unresponsive to Bourjos’s attempts to rouse him; his face was covered in blood.
Bourjos motioned for the training staff right away. When Jason Heyward arrived at the scene of the crash, he gave Piscotty the order to stay put. Piscotty was surrounded by medical staff who strapped him to a body board and wheeled him off the field. Thank goodness, Piscotty waved as he left the field. It was the bright spot on a pitch-black cloud.
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