Umpire Paul Emmel needs stitches after bat whacks him in the head

Umpire Paul Emmel sustained a scary injury on Thursday night while he was working the game between the Los Angeles Angels and the Oakland Athletics.

The Angels' Jefry Marte was pinch hitting with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, and took a big swing on the first offering from Athletics reliever Sean Doolittle. On the back-end of the swing, Marte let go of the bat, and it was at just the right angle to nail home plate umpire Paul Emmel right on the top of his head. Emmel hit the deck, and Athletics catcher Stephen Vogt called for the trainers right away.

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This wasn't a small injury. As soon as Emmel pulled off his mask you could see he had a large gash on his head that was freely bleeding.

Yikes. After a large, gauzy pad was held to the wound, Emmel was helped off the field and third base umpire Quinn Wolcott came in to call the final out. Thankfully, there was positive news about Emmel after the game.

Whew. Stitches aren't nothing, of course, but that injury could have been so much worse. Thank goodness Emmel is doing well.

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Liz Roscher is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on twitter! Follow @lizroscher