Syracuse won that game, by the way

Syracuse won that game, by the way

Dick Vitale has been a fixture at Tampa Bay Rays games for as long as the franchise has existed. When not day dreaming about Coach K, Vitale can be seen chillaxing at Tropicana Field. But yesterday, his leisure took a turn for the worst when he was nailed by a foul ball.

“First pitch got me right in the rib area,” Vitale told Fox Sports’ Todd Kalas. “(It was the) first time I’ve ever had a line drive in 11 years come into this box since I’ve been here. And I’m going to tell you, man, it came like a bullet, and I was really worried. But fortunately, I feel fine.” –USAToday

Video of said shellacking after the jump.

<a href="http://widget.uproxx.com/b/2/http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-us&#038;brand=foxsports&#038;from=sp&#038;vid=42dd445f-b0c7-4d08-a1e0-9d084650548d" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackPageview','/outbound/withleatheroutbound-article/http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-us&amp;brand=foxsports&amp;from=sp&amp;vid=42dd445f-b0c7-4d08-a1e0-9d084650548d']);" target="_new" title="Vitale hit by foul ball">Video: Vitale hit by foul ball</a>

A nice example of Dickey V showing some know how and elbow grease. No bitching about the refs, and good fundamentals. He could have played for Coach K, his career was just like Christian Laettner’s. Pretty good in college, terrible in the pros. Joe Madden and Rocco Baldelli thought he showed some chutzpah, so they gave Vitale a metaphorical ass slap for good hustle.

Tampa Bay lost, 3-2, but that didn’t keep Rays skipper Joe Maddon from joking around with one of his team’s biggest fans.

“We offered to send over a glove,” said Maddon. “That was obviously a little too late.”

The Rays did, however, give Vitale something to put on his mantel. According to the St. Petersburg Times, Maddon and coach Rocco Baldelli signed a ball for him. It reads “Dick, keep your eyes on the field. Ha. You’re always our favorite. All the best.” –NYDailyNews

Some asshat programming director at ESPN better not think to put Dick Vitale in the boradcast booth for one of Stephen Strasburg’s starts. The over-under for times he’d refer to Strasburg a “PTP-er,” or “awesome with a capital A, baby” would have to be at least 50.5. Bill Simmons would be torn between that and The Real World Road Rules Challenge, or whatever the hell they call that show now. What am I saying? The man must be a millionaire if he owns Clippers season tickets. He probably watches them at the same time on 3D TVs.