Koyie (pronounced "Koy") Hill, 29, was called up by the Chicago Cubs from Triple-A Iowa, a welcome relief for the journeyman catcher. What makes this story interesting, however, is that Koyie Hill almost lost four fingers in a table saw accident in October, 2007, only saving his right thumb, pinkie, ring and middle fingers thanks to reattachment surgery.
Koyie Hill says that his throwing hand is actually better after surgery than before because doctors sculpted his fingers to the ideal position to hold a baseball. "[Doctors] had me hold a ball in my left hand to see where my finger was placed so when they sewed it back on it was fixed in a position," Hill explains. "So you could say it was actually built for playing baseball now, which is something a baseball player always wanted."
The accident occurred when Hill, an aspiring architect, was building a window frame for his house. The saw grabbed the wood and Hill’s right hand caught the brunt of the spinning teeth on the saw. After months of therapy, Koyie Hill can now do everything he could before the accident but says he had to re-learn even the simplest tasks. "You had to learn how to give high-fives all over again," he said.
Hopefully Hill’s "new" hand really will be better than the last and will help him find success with the Chicago Cubs.
Sources: Chicago Tribune, Wikipedia
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