Not many people are struck by lightning . In fact , the odds of ever being strike in your entire lifetime is just1 in 3000 . But the people who are unlucky enough to get up close and personal with this weather phenomenon sure remember their encounters — take they live through the experience , of course . Most survivor have long - terminjuries , include nerve , muscle , and hear damage , not to mention the prankish - lookingburn marksknown as Lichtenberg figures that result when capillaries bust from the electrical energy .
And then there ’s the case of pitcher Ray Caldwell .
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August 24 , 1919 , marked Caldwell ’s first game as a Cleveland Indian . He was pitching well against the Philadelphia Athletics , despite a pertinacious rain that had started in the fourth inning , and by the 9th , the Indians were up , 2 - 1 .
Caldwell quickly put off the first two batters and , with the A ’s down to their final out , Jumping Joe Duganstepped to the plate . Then suddenly , lightning struck — literally . A bolt hit the branding iron rail in front of the press box , made its way of life down the steel posts and across the baseball diamond , and strike Caldwell on the hillock . Or else it struck the dirt of thepitcher ’s mounddirectly . Or else it enteredthe metal buttonon the top of Caldwell ’s cap and exited the metal spikes of his shoes . Accounts differ , but disregarding , the hurler was knocked clean out .
He later enjoin the ClevelandPress , " It felt just like somebody came up with a board and hit me on top of the head and knock me down . "
player rush the mound and lover panicked as Caldwell lay unconscious forfive arcminute . But he eventually came to , and when he did , he was n’t content with but hold out the lightning . He got to his feet , shook his head , and insist on finishing out the plot . With his next and terminal pitch , he induced a ground out to third to hand the Indians a crucialwin .
Despite his snug call , Caldwell seemed to have no lasting wellness effects ; in fact , he toss ano - hitterthe very next calendar month . After his playing career terminate , hemanagedin the minor leagues for several year — and presumably stay in the dugout canoe whenever it look like rain .
