Friday, March 14, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
When J.T. Snow of the San Francisco Giants was hit in the face by a fastball, he flailed in pain for 30 minutes awaiting an ambulance to take him to a hospital across the street from the stadium in Scottsdale, Ariz.
"It was an internal communication problem at Scottsdale Stadium," said Jim Moorehead, media relations manager for the Giants. "It has since been remedied."
Though the Giants accepted responsibility for the delay, Karl Keierleber, Scottsdale's fire chief, agreed Thursday that changes have been made to prevent a recurrence.
"It was one of those issues where everybody else thought somebody else called (for an ambulance) and there was no call made (for a time)," he said.
An ambulance finally was dispatched after Sgt. James Butera called Rural/Metro Fire Department to find out what was taking it so long. Rural/Metro, which provides emergency medical services in Scottsdale, told him that no one had requested an ambulance.
"When we finally got a call from the Scottsdale Police Department, we were on the scene in one minute," Rural/Metro spokesman Matt Phillips said.
Snow's left eye socket was fractured Tuesday by a 97 mph fastball from Seattle's Randy Johnson. Snow was released from Scottsdale Memorial Hospital-Osborn the next day.
The delay in obtaining an ambulance, Rural/Metro spokesman Colin Williams said, involved radio frequencies used by the emergency medical technician assigned to the game.
During the accident, those frequencies placed calls directly to the Scottsdale Stadium security office. Now, the stadium medical techician is equipped with a radio that can contact Rural/Metro dispatchers directly.
* MARLINS 4, ORIOLES 1: At Melbourne, Fla., Mark Hutton pitched four shutout innings and strengthened his claim for a starting job with Florida, which improved to 15-1.
* CARDINALS 4, INDIANS 1: At St. Petersburg, Fla., Ron Gant hit a two-run homer off Orel Hershiser in the fifth inning. Gant has 10 RBIs this spring. Hershiser gave up four runs and seven hits in 4 2-3 innings and hit an RBI single.
* DODGERS 5, PHILLIES 2: At Vero Beach, Fla., Eric Karros homered twice and drove in three runs for Los Angeles. Danny Tartabull and Desi Relaford homered for the Phillies.
* PIRATES 12, RED SOX 2: At Fort Myers, Fla., Tony Womack, who won the Pirates' second base job, had five hits and Pittsburgh took advantage of four Boston errors.
* YANKEES 3, BLUE JAYS 1: At Dunedin, Fla., Darryl Strawberry homered and Andy Pettitte allowed one hit in five shutout innings.
* ROYALS 5, REDS 3: At Haines City, Fla., Joe Vitiello hit his fourth home run in 19 at-bats, connecting off John Smiley in the third. Deion Sanders went 3-for-3 and drove in a run for the Reds.
* WHITE SOX 4, TIGERS 1: At Sarasota, Fla., Wilson Alvarez pitched six shutout innings and Chris Snopek hit a two-run homer for Chicago.
* EXPOS 5, BRAVES 4: At West Palm Beach, Fla., Sherman Obando hit a two-run triple and Henry Rodriguez had a two-run homer in Montreal's four-run eighth. Greg Maddux allowed three hits in four shutout innings for the Braves.
* RANGERS 8, TWINS 5: At Port Charlotte, Fla., Mike Devereaux had three hits and drove in two runs.
* ROCKIES 8, BREWERS 4: At Chandler, Ariz., Harvey Pulliam's two-run homer capped Colorado's six-run third inning.
* ATHLETICS 6, CUBS 5: At Phoenix, Scott Brosius hit a one-out homer in the ninth inning off Mel Rojas as Oakland rebounded after wasting a two-run lead in the top of the inning.
* PADRES 17, ANGELS 0: At Peoria, Ariz., Ken Caminiti, back after resting his tender left shoulder, went 3-for-3 with his first homer of the spring for San Diego.
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