June 1, 1960
Knights Lose Roosmalen for the Year
The Berlin Knights confirmed today that star shortstop Olivier Roosmalen is out for the season with a broken kneecap following a collision at second base in a game on May 29th. Roosmalen was attempting to turn a double play when Copenhagen Condors left fielder Ile Marusic slid in hard to break it up. Roosmalen collapsed immediately and was taken out of the game for medical attention.
X-Rays taken confirmed the initial diagnosis, and it's expected to take at least 4-5 months until he is able to return to a baseball diamond. Considered perhaps the best contact hitter in the sport, Roosmalen was enjoying a fine season for the Knights, hitting .402/.438/.622 with nearly as many home runs (8) as strikeouts (9). The diagnosis comes on the same day that he was named European Premier League Hitter of the Month for May.
"One of my goals was to hit .400 this season," Roosmalen told reporters this morning. "I guess this is a lesson to be careful what you wish for."
The Knights sit now at 19-21 and tied for 6th place in the EPL West Division. "It's an incredibly tough pill to swallow," their manager remarked. "I hope we can show some resiliency moving forward."
Word of Roosmalen's injury spread across the baseball world, with several players going out of their way to offer support and encouragement.
"It's incredibly sad," said Sylvano Boccaccio of the Rome Regiment, the other other qualified player hitting .400 in the WBA. "I was looking forward to a summer of trying to win the batting crown against him."