'Batman' Rhymes picks his favorite heroes Every baseball player wants to be the lead story on ESPN's SportsCenter. Last week, Tampa Bay Rays second baseman Will Rhymes was hit on his right forearm by a 95 mph fastball thrown by Red Sox pitcher Franklin Morales. Even in my living room, we could hear the ball smack into Rhymes' arm. Team trainer Paul Harker came running out of the dugout to check on him. ESPN showed a replay of Rhymes reaching first base, teetering and collapsing into the arms of first base coach George Hendrick. Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine later said, "my heart stopped," when he saw Rhymes go down. The next day, I heard that when Rhymes regained consciousness on the field, trainer Harker asked him, "Do you know who you are?" A few days later, after the dust cleared, I asked Rhymes, "When you said you were Batman, were you doing a 'Seinfeld' reference or just woozy or what?" Since he was hit, Tampa Bay fans have been showing up to games wearing Batman masks. When I was growing up, either my twin brother or I always wore Superman underwear. Wolverine has healing powers, and his keen animal senses don't hurt, either. [...] I taunted him with photos from the Cavern Club, the Beatles' childhood homes and Penny Lane. Yeah, like I was ever going to beat out "major league baseball player." [...] my kid plays on the Lamar freshman baseball team, just like Rhymes once did.
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