You're out! The moment a skydiver delivering the ball to the start of a baseball game takes out the shortstop instead

A baseball short-stop was calmly preparing for the game on Saturday night when a ceremonial skydiver dropped out of sky, knocked him to the ground and accidentally kicked him in the head.

Mattingly Romanin, of Ontario, who plays for Missouri's Hannibal Cavemen in a summer minor league, got the nasty shock as he was waiting for the parachutist to deliver the game ball.

As dramatic video shows, the skydiver descended from the heavens far too close to second base and used Romanin to break his fall.

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Incoming: The ceremonial skydiver arrived with the baseball at the Hannibal Caveman, Missouri, game on Saturday

Overhead: The parachutist flew high above most of the players

Surprise: The skydiver took the short-stop out as the player ducked rather than ran

Unfortunately for the player, he ducked down instead of moving aside, in the belief that the jumper would steer round him.



He was wrong. And, on impact, the crowd reacted with a telling mixture of gasps, shock and stifled laughter.

Footage shows the surprise incident unfold and the suspense of the occasion is greatly amplified by the soundtrack being played over the PA system - the music from the Pirates of the Caribbean movie.

Another video, from KHQA , shows the incident from a closer perspective.



The parachutist, one of three used on Saturday, jumped up and rushed to check on the injured player, while Romanin's team-mates strolled around as if nothing had happened.

OK: The baseball player was fine, except for some bruises, and played the whole game

Impact: The skydiver crashed into Mattingly Romanin, who was minding his own business at second base

VIDEO: The crash from a closer perspective





The short-stop seemed OK, barring cuts and bruises near his right eye, and he recovered to play the entire game against the Terre Haute Rex.

Romanin joked about the incident on Twitter the following day, wryly observing: 'they told us not to move and they (the parachutists) wont hit us... (I) guess not.'

The player confirmed that he was 'alright' physically apart from a headache and stiff neck.

Romanin was clearly still shocked by being assaulted from above though he took it in good humor.



On Sunday he tweeted 'Still in disbelief that actually happened' and ' i feel like i got kicked in the face yesterday, oh wait.... '

