There was a sudden pounding of feet on the deck and a man -- an old man, with veiny legs and missing teeth -- dropped headfirst into the hold.
You're 18, all kinds of hormones crawling through your bloodstream, dropped headfirst into the heretofore mythical land of college, eager to prove you're an adult, simultaneously eager to drink a six pack of Smirnoff Ices on a Tuesday night, searching for some sort of identity but also terrified of embarrassment.
First, in a freak accident on a wet clay court in Rome, as he ran for a drop shot he tripped and flew headfirst toward the net post.
The three men stayed with ¼ » the body during the day and, in the evening, made a makeshift stretcher out of wood and cloth, loaded it with Bartlett's apparently lifeless body and carried it to the river, dropping it once on the way, headfirst, on to a road.
Gibson fell behind, and with Teater's permission dropped the bag several yards from the finish before sliding headfirst onto the green in a futile attempt to win.
The game ended on a jaw-dropping play, as center fielder Jason Heyward slid full-speed and headfirst into the left-center field gap to rob a potential go-ahead hit.
But Bell, the Seattle second baseman, nonchalantly took the throw from right field and dropped the ball, and Bellinger scampered homeward and scored with a headfirst slide, giving the Yankees a 3-2 edge.
You can throw someone headfirst off the side of a building, then elbow-drop them from a passing helicopter.
Ventura lifted his average to.251 on June 25, the day he tweaked the shoulder while sliding headfirst into second base, and he has eight hits in 50 at-bats since, dropping his average to.235...
That last cameo came after a scintillating shot sequence of Tiger slugger Prince Fielder's triple: Fielder hitting - the flare dropping in right field - Fielder hulking around second - the ball relayed in - Fielder sliding headfirst into third, rising to his knees with a victorious "Oh!," as the camera lens zoomed in.
