LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- For those who saw Luis Salazar unconscious on the dugout floor two weeks ago, seeing him back at spring training Wednesday, talking about returning to managing in a few more weeks, was remarkable.
The Braves minor league manager returned to Champion Stadium eight days after surgery to remove his left eye, irreparably damaged when he was struck by a foul ball off the bat of Brian McCann during a March 9 Grapefruit League game.
“I’d like to thank God I’m talking to you guys and that I’m alive,” said Salazar, 54, who was unconscious for at least 20 minutes. “God gave me a second chance in this world, and I’m going to take advantage of it. I really appreciate it.”
The former major league infielder has been told he could return in another three to five weeks to his job as manager of the high-Class A Lynchburg (Va.) affiliate. Braves general manager Frank Wren assured him from the outset that the job would be waiting for him.
“It’s amazing,” said Braves team doctor Joe Chandler, who spent a lot of time with Salazar and his family during a weeklong stay at Orlando Regional Medical Center. “This guy is tough. Tough.
“You look at him and think about what he looked like two weeks ago. It’s amazing. ... I went to the hospital each day to offer him encouragement and strength, but I came away with more than I went in with.”
Chandler nearly broke down as he talked about Salazar, who has spoken with McCann several times since the incident.
“Brian McCann is a very sensitive kid,” Salazar said. “He’s worried about my health and stopped by the hospital a couple of times. He came back with his wife and stayed for about three hours.
“I told him, it could happen to anybody. I said, ‘Brian, the only thing you have to do is forget about it. Right now, you talk to me, I’m alive. Thank God I’m talking to you. Move on, have a good season and forget about the incident. It can happen to anybody, anyplace.”
Salazar said he was buoyed by the constant support of his wife, son and daughter at the hospital, along with daily visits from Braves officials and coaches and the thoughts and prayers of fans from his native Venezuela and organizations he played for.
“It was very tough in the beginning,” he said. “The one thing I can say, the front office of the Atlanta Braves -- they were constantly in the hospital talking to me in a positive way. The coaches, Bobby Cox, Fredi Gonzalez, Frank Wren, John Schuerholz -- all stopped by and cheered me up. Every time when I see those people, they make me feel good, make me feel like I’m going to recover, and that’s what happened.
“I’m very fortunate to work in the Braves organization."
Immediately after the March 9 incident, players, coaches and others in or near the dugout feared Salazar might die. He was administered oxygen and did not regain consciousness or resume breathing until he was in a helicopter being rushed to an Orlando trauma center.
“I don’t remember anything,” Salazar said. “I just remember the ball in my eye, that’s the only thing I remember. It felt like a missile in my eye, and that’s the last thing I remember. And when I woke up, in the hospital. I don’t remember anything else.”
He had facial fractures and bled extensively from his nose, mouth and eye after being knocked out by the ball and falling face-first to the dugout floor the top step. He had been watching the game from the dugout railing when McCann hooked a line-drive foul.
It was the worst baseball-related injury that Braves third baseman Chipper Jones or first-base coach Terry Pendleton said they had seen.
When Salazar returned to the ballpark Wednesday, he spoke with major-league and minor-league players, coaches and team officials, then met briefly with media members.
"His spirits were great, and the guys embraced him," Gonzalez said. "He’s itching to get back in a uniform."
In a hallway outside the Braves clubhouse, Salazar stood before reporters and cameramen wearing no covering over his left eye socket, with his eyelid closed during the interview. (He will be fitted with a prosthetic eye.)
There was bruising on his neck and swelling on the left side of his face, but nothing remotely resembling his appearance in the days after the incident. He was told Tuesday that a facial fracture should be healed in another two weeks and that he could probably ease back into his job soon after that period.
That he chose not to wear a patch or sunglasses during the interview said something about Salazar, the Braves doctor said.
“That just takes an amount of inner strength than is hard to fathom,” Chandler said. “If you think about what he’s been through, and his approach -- it’s real. This guy is real. He is genuine.”
