Kernels Manager Burke recalls violent collision with Hunter

CEDAR RAPIDS - Concussions in football are one of the topics du jour in the sports world right now, but Cedar Rapids Kernels Manager Jamie Burke can tell you first hand they're not exclusive to the gridiron. He suffered one on a football-like play in 2004 at Chicago's U.S. Cellular Field.

YouTube it, if you don't remember it. Burke was a backup catcher for the Chicago White Sox who happened to be in the lineup one late July night against the Minnesota Twins in the thick of a tense division battle between the rivals.

Torii Hunter of the Twins tagged up on a medium fly to left in the late innings and tried to score. Burke attempted to catch a throw from teammate Timo Perez but got barrelled over by Hunter with a flying shoulder.

“He got me pretty good,” Burke said prior to last night's 7-6 win over Peoria before 5,258 fans at Veterans Memorial Stadium, the largest crowd since 2007.

Got him real good. The back of Burke's head slammed into the ground. Miraculously, he finished the rest of the inning before being lifted for a pinch hitter and heading straight to the hospital, where he stayed overnight.

“I remember them waking me up every hour in the hospital,” Burke said. “They wouldn't let me sleep. They had to wake me up to make sure I was all right. I was fine, just had a headache. I got a CAT scan in the morning, then went straight to the park because we had a 1 o'clock game. My eyes were dilated, I couldn't see anything.I get to the clubhouse, and my locker was swarmed with media.”

Burke said Hunter eventually apologized for the hit, which many people considered very dirty.

“I'm the type of guy, people see it, I don't have to say anything,” Burke said. “They saw it. It was kind of a heat-of-the-moment thing. I know he wouldn't go out of his way to hurt somebody ... But I was inside the line, and he had a clear path.”

Kevin Moesquit scored the winning run in the seventh inning on a neat head-first slide for the Kernels (19-23). Frazier Hall had three hits. ---- The teams play again Sunday afternoon at 2:05.

Here is the game boxscore:

Scoreboard _ Midwest League Scoreboard