Things never end well when spikes go eye level.
Home plate umpire Greg Gibson found this out when he received an errant cleat to the face during Wednesday night's Angels-Indians game.
Angels outfielder Torii Hunter was racing home while trying to score on a Kendrys Morales double when he threw his body into an awkward position in an attempt to avoid the tag. In the midst of his unorthodox slide, though, Hunter's legs went flailing northward, catching Gibson right in the face.
Gibson started bleeding profusely after Hunter's inadvertent kick, and was forced to leave the game and receive stitches. The umpire appeared in good spirits, though, even joking around despite being forced to leave the game as a result of the blood.
The scariest part of the incident is that Gibson reportedly told Hunter he stayed down as long as he did because he was unsure if he still had his eyeball. Perhaps he wouldn't have if Hunter had worn metal spikes like he did on Sunday and Monday. Hunter reportedly switched over to plastic spikes on Tuesday, and decided to wear them again on Wednesday, which may have minimized the damage.
Gibson has had to make a lot of difficult calls in his career, but the scene on Wednesday night represented his closest yet.
