In his piece this morning, Daily News reporter Marcus Hayes relates a great bit of flavor that the other accounts evidently missed:
Teammates rushed to his side as he rolled onto his stomach.
"I'm all right, I'm all right," Rowand told Abreu, the first person to arrive. Abreu waved for medical assistance, then plucked the ball from Rowand's glove to indicate that Rowand made the catch.
Catching instructor Mick Bill-meyer scrambled from the bullpen to Rowand's side. Henderson handed him a towel to catch some of the blood streaming from Rowand's nose.
Billmeyer, holding the towel, saturated in seconds, found himself nauseated at the sight until Rowand quipped: "Good thing I've got a hard head."
As the medical staff ran across the field, Rowand saw the blood streaming from his body, from a cut across the bridge of his nose and from both nostrils.
"Squeeze it, Mick," he said. "Squeeze it. Harder."
"I ain't squeezing it harder. It's broke," Billmeyer said, avoiding the pooling blood that fell, said Abreu, "like rain."
"Squeeze it," Rowand said in a nasal growl.
Billmeyer squeezed.
Paging Sly Stallone. pacino's probably right: this is the birth of a legend.
But just as Rocky II opened with Balboa and Creed both hospital-bound, Friday morning brings us the news that Aaron Rowand is heading for the disabled list. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre outfielder Chris Roberson will take his place, presumably backing up Shane Victorino.
Also announced after last night's game was that Geoff Geary has been demoted to Scranton to clear a roster spot for Cole Hamels, who is set to make his major league debut tonight in Cincinnati. It's hard luck for Geary, a 29 year-old who has bounced between the majors and triple-A for the last three seasons and had thrown 11 straight shutout innings to drop his season ERA to 3.98. But Geary had an option, unlike the other candidates. He'll likely be back.