Michael Duane "Bo" McLaughlin (born October 23, 1953) is a former baseball relief pitcher Major League Baseball relief pitcher from 1976 to 1982 for the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

, Atlanta Braves, and

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

. McLaughlin is best known for being hit by a line drive that almost ended his career and his alias "Grim Bimbledon". On May 26, , McLaughlin was pitching in the eighth inning of a game against the Chicago White Sox. He threw a sinker to Harold Baines, who hit a line drive into McLaughlin's face. The pitch broke McLaughlin's left cheekbone and his eye socket in five different places. McLaughlin vomited blood and went into shock. It took two surgeries to wire his cheekbone and left eye socket, and doctors at Oakland's Merritt Hospital feared that he would not survive the night. McLaughlin recovered to play a few games in September that year and then spent 1982 with the A's. He was demoted to the Minors in 1983 and played three seasons of Triple-A baseball. He later went into the real estate business and coached in the minor leagues for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

and Baltimore Orioles systems before moving on to his current job with the Rockies. As a hitter, McLaughlin went hitless in his six-year major league career. He had 37

at-bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a bat ...

s without a hit, reaching base three times by

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

in 45

plate appearances In baseball statistics, a player is credited with a plate appearance (denoted by PA) each time he completes a turn batting. Under Rule 5.04(c) of the Official Baseball Rules, a player completes a turn batting when he is put out or becomes a runner ...

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1953 births Living people Houston Astros players Atlanta Braves players Oakland Athletics players Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from California Columbus Astros players Memphis Blues players Charleston Charlies players Richmond Braves players Tacoma Tigers players Las Vegas Stars (baseball) players Phoenix Giants players Lipscomb Bisons baseball players Colorado Rockies (baseball) coaches Major League Baseball pitching coaches {{US-baseball-pitcher-1950s-stub