A 'very lucky' Turner recounts scary hit by pitch

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- When Justin Turner emerged in the clubhouse on Sunday, six days after he got hit in the face by a pitch, there were only small visible reminders of the harrowing incident.

Turner had a bruise/cut below his left eye and a small cut just above the left corner of his lip.

Other than that, Turner, who had nearly 20 stitches removed over the past couple of days, looks like himself.

And that includes his famous beard.

“They actually tried to shave the beard but one of the nurses suggested they just trim a little bit of the ‘stache. So very thankful for that,” said Turner.

The veteran right-handed hitter, who believes he is on track to play on Opening Day at Fenway against the Orioles on March 30, was as pleasantly surprised as everyone who saw him get hit that he didn’t suffer any fractures or lose any teeth.

“Are you surprised? I’m just as surprised as you are, probably,” said Turner. “This is the second time I’ve got hit in the face. I got hit back in 2003 in the College World Series, and same thing, laceration, no breaks. So I don't know why I've been so lucky, but I know I'm very lucky and thankful that it was as minor as it was considering I got hit in the face.

“Not even a loose tooth. I thought something would at least be a little loose. They did say I have a dent in my cheek. No breaks, but a dent.”

Though no one would have blamed Turner if he decided not to look at the video from the pitch from Tigers righty Matt Manning that had him sprawling to the dirt, he did check it out.

“Yeah, pretty gross,” Turner said.

What was it like in the moment for Turner?

“You just don’t know what is really going on. Everything was pretty numb in the moment,” Turner said. “I knew I was bleeding. I had no idea where I was bleeding from and couldn't feel my teeth, really. So I didn't know if they were all there and just wanted to get past the heatwave that you get and the feeling like you're going to pass out.

“Once I was able to get in the room, lay down and get hooked up to some IVs and stuff, it calmed down and it's been actually pretty smooth sailing from there, knock on wood.”

While Turner purposely waited a couple of days to turn his phone back on after his ordeal, it didn’t take him long to realize how many friends he has.

Turner’s wife Kourtney sent out the initial tweet to let everyone know he was OK.

“I had tons of text messages, tons of social media reaching out. I didn’t even want to look at my phone,” said Turner. “She was like, ‘I'll put something out so everyone knows you're doing all right. That way you don’t have to feel like you need to answer 10,000 messages.’ I’m glad she was here.”

On Saturday, Turner had the joy of being able to eat solid foods again.

The pain from the stitch removal wasn’t a lot of fun for Turner, but it has opened up a lane for him to get back in action soon.

“I think it ended up being a little more than 16, so they took 11 out yesterday and I think they took another six or seven out today, and there’s still some on the inside [of the lip] that are dissolvable,” said Turner.

The baseball stuff will take care of itself, Turner knows that much. It started with some light baseball activity before Sunday's Grapefruit League game against the Yankees.

“Played catch, and took some swings off the tee today and hopefully just kind of keep ramping it up as long as there’s no setbacks and hopefully be back out there as soon as possible. And then we'll see where we're at from there, but I certainly plan on being there for Opening Day,” said Turner. “That’s the plan.”

Considering the uncertainty Turner felt as he was in the dirt six days ago, that plan is a pretty satisfying one to have.