The game between the Chunichi Dragons and Hanshin Tigers came to a sudden, terrifying halt after third baseman Hiroki Fukunaga suffered a gruesome head injury, a stark reminder of the dangers inherent in the game.

Following Nippon Professional Baseball‘s star 3B’s injury, one fan posted the video, hoping for his speedy recovery.

“Fukunaga’s accident. He hit his head, I’m worried… I can only pray for his safety. Come back safely.”

In the third inning, Fukunaga chased a fly ball in the foul territory near the 3rd base line. He went at full speed, tripped near the photographer’s area, and fell face-first into the camera. He stayed down, and the umpires reacted quickly, going to check on the player.

The umpire immediately called for a stretcher. Fukunaga was taken off the field and rushed to the hospital.

After the game, the Dragons’ manager, Kazuki Inoue, said, “He is bleeding. It’s a laceration to his head… It’s related to his head. We can only hope that the examination will show that it’s nothing serious.”

So far in the season, Fukunaga was hitting at .303, so this can be a massive blow for the Dragons.

The manager ruled him out at least for the next few games and said, “Given that condition, there’s no way we’ll be using him tomorrow or the day after.”

While Yuki could talk, he had some memory loss, per the manager.

Now the attention shifts to the doctors and what their reports will tell. Because we have seen how concussions can ruin a player’s career.

Former Reds player Ryan Freel suffered multiple head injuries during his baseball career. This was a result of his aggressive style of diving for catches and colliding with walls while going after them. After his retirement in 2009, his close ones shared that he had behavioral and cognitive issues, which are often associated with post-concussion effects.

After his passing in 2012, Boston University in 2013 examined his brain and found chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) due to repeated head traumas.

In fact, just a few days back, we saw another head injury in a bizarre situation in the NPB, only adding to the league’s safety consciousness.

Umpire’s head injury at the Nippon Professional Baseball

A scary moment occurred during the game between the Tokyo Yakult Swallows and the Yokohama DeNA BayStars when umpire Takuto Kawakami was hit during an at-bat. It happened in the eighth inning, when the game was already deep and still competitive.

The league called it an “extremely serious matter,” showing how bad the impact was. Medical staff reached him within seconds, with a stretcher. As the ump tried to get up, he simply couldn’t! Then, in a rare moment, a blue medical tent was seen for the first time in baseball.

Swallows batter Jose Osuna was at the plate.

Osuna swung at the pitch, missed it, and the bat slipped from his hands. The bat hit Kawakami on the left side of his head, near the temple. Doctors say hits in that area can cause instant blackout because it is very sensitive.

After going through an emergency surgery, he is now in the ICU.

There was no intent, so the umpires did not call any interference under the rules.

NPB shared a statement on April 17, mentioning they will review umpire safety rules. The league said he was using a wired mask, which does not cover the whole head. They are now looking at helmet-style masks that give better protection in these situations.

This moment could push NPB to make real changes, so umpires stay safer going forward. And with that, NPB will probably check on the safety gears for players, too.