LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Brian McCann arrived at work early Thursday, but his heart and mind were elsewhere.
The Braves catcher was thinking about Luis Salazar, the Braves minor-league manager and spring-training coach laid up at Orlando Regional Medical Center, with multiple facial fractures and a damaged left eye that doctors were trying to save.
McCann hit the foul ball that struck Salazar in the left side of the face as he stood at the top step of the dugout in the first inning Wednesday afternoon. It knocked him out, and Salazar fell face-first to the dugout floor.
McCann left the game almost immediately and went to the hospital to be with Salazar, who was unconscious for at least 20 minutes. He began breathing on his own while being airlifted via helicopter.
Salazar had facial surgery Wednesday night and more surgery Thursday. The Braves did not have an update on his condition Thursday, and some players were saddened to hear that Salazar might lose an eye.
“It’s a crazy, crazy thing that happened,” McCann said quietly Thursday morning. “So unfortunate. Just pray for recovery. Yesterday was a tragic day.”
Players and coaches described a gruesome scene in the dugout, where Salazar lay motionless, bleeding from his mouth, nose and the left side of his face, as he was attended to by medics.
During the 14-minute delay in the game, some feared the worst. For that wrenching period, there was genuine concern that Salazar might be dead.
A state trooper went to the Braves' clubhouse a short while later to let the worried McCann know that Salazar resumed breathing on his own and regained consciousness in the helicopter.
“Once I got [to the hospital] and they did the brain scan -- there’s not going to be any brain damage, and that was... so lucky. I mean, the way it hit and the way he hit [the floor], my heart just sunk.
“I’ve never had that feeling before in my life, and it’s something I don’t ever want to experience again.”
Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez kept McCann out of the lineup Thursday, but said he would play Friday against the New York Yankees.
“I think he’s handled it well," Gonzalez said. "I think the good thing was that he went over there with [Braves doctor Joe] Chandler and got to see the family, got to see Luis. I think that put him at ease a little bit."
McCann stayed with the Salazars -- Luis, his wife, Graciela, and 31-year-old son Carlos -- at the hospital for about two hours Wednesday. Salazar was responsive to doctor’s questions, but the 54-year-old former major leaguer was not able to converse with McCann.
“It was good to go in and speak to him for a second,” McCann said. “He knew I was there. You just pray for the best. There's nothing else you can do. Just a helpless feeling. I'm thinking about his family, his kids and wife.
“I just basically told them I'm sorry this happened, and let them know I'm here and I'm praying. It's just such a ... it's upsetting, for sure."
Salazar was set to manage the Braves' relocated high-Class A Lynchburg affiliate, in his first season with the Braves. He knew many in the organization from his 13 years as a major leaguer and from coaching in the Dodgers' minor league system, where Braves pitching coach Roger McDowell began his coaching career.
McCann did not describe anything of Salazar’s appearance and still seemed too shaken to go into much detail about what happened Wednesday.
“It just puts everything in perspective,” McCann said. “We’re playing a game. ... I’m just so thankful there’s not brain damage, and he’s going to be able to walk away from it.”
