Ichiro almost took my head off with a foul ball tonight.

In the first inning, he sliced a ball foul that made like a heat-seeking missile.

Right. At. Me.

I saw it coming (albeit briefly), and just as the ball got bigger in my sight, I bailed, falling to the floor of the third-base photo well.

I was holding onto my 400mm lens and camera by the monopod, and the ball scored a direct hit on the side of rim of the lens, missing the glass of the front element by only an inch.

My lens now has a dent the exact size of a Major League Baseball.

Probably would have taken my head if I hadn't moved, rendering me a life-sized bobblehead on Ichiro bobblehead night at the ballpark.

Luckily, I happened to be looking at the hitter, since it was Ichiro. Had the Mariners been in the field, I might have been focusing on the pitcher and never seen it coming.

That could have been bad. Or, it could have knocked some sense into me.

Time to get a batting helmet.

P.S. Tom, thanks for calling me on your cell phone from the 300 level to make sure I was okay...now that's friendship.