Quick-Thinking Man Saves Kid from Getting Hit with a Baseball Bat

Pittsburgh outfielder Danny Ortiz was batting during a spring training game against the Atlanta Braves on Saturday when he accidentally flung his bat towards a boy sitting in the stands. Luckily for the young fan — who was distracted by his cell phone — the man sitting next to him had quick enough reflexes to reach out and deflect the rogue bat before it could hit him in the face. Photos of the incident were captured by Pittsburgh Tribune-Review photographer Christopher Horner.

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“I didn’t know what happened, if it [hurt] the boy or anything. I went home and my wife said to me, ‘You almost killed that kid!,'” Ortiz told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “I saw the picture. It was crazy. That guy took [a blow] for the kid. The father, or whoever he was, he protected that kid.”