On November 18, 1985, New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor sacked Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann. At the point of the sack, Theismann suffered from a compound fracture in his leg; he never played again.
On April 28, 2012, Keene State College baseball catcher Matt Boulay tagged a Southern Maine hitter at home plate. At the point of the tag, Boulay suffered from torn ligaments off his thumb — but he played again.
In the world of sports, injuries come in a variety of severities. Whether it is a fractured leg or torn thumb ligaments, some athletes recover and others do not.
While Theismann’s fracture kept him off the field forever, Boulay’s tear kept him off the diamond for eight weeks and an entire summer.
Nonetheless, he had the opportunity to take this journey back to baseball.
Boulay explained that this was only the first of a series of season-ending injuries.
“It was the last regular season game of my sophomore year when I tore the ligaments off my thumb. I ended up having surgery. Then last year during our first game down in Florida I broke my hand and missed all of last season. Then I played three weeks of summer ball and broke my hand again, so I missed the rest of summer. Then I finally got back to playing in the fall,” Boulay said.
Teammates Vinnie Mangiagli and Shawn Egan described his injuries and his comeback to baseball.
Brian Cantore / Equinox Staff:
Boulay running from home plate in a game against Rhode Island College on Saturday April 12, 2014.
“It’s terrible,” Mangiagli said, “I couldn’t even imagine breaking my hand. Just from knowing him for so long I knew how tough he was and that he was going to be okay in the long run. I just hoped for the best recovery for him.”
“His sophomore year he was playing very well before he got hurt. He was hitting over .300. He was performing at a high level. It is difficult to see somebody of such importance go down. But once they come back and play at such a high level again it makes you happy to be friends with him and to know him,” Egan added.
After eight years of playing baseball with Boulay, [the three played four years of baseball together at East Catholic High School in Manchester, Conn.] it seems that his teammate’s confidence in him was accurate.
So far this season, Boulay has caught 15 of 39 opponents stealing home plate.
This 28 percent success rate is the highest of any Owls player.
Aside from his statistics as a catcher, Boulay is also second on his team for batting average and runs.
He is one of four players currently achieving a batting average above .300.
KSC Head Baseball Coach Ken Howe credited Boulay’s success to his mental proficiency.
“I think he just has a general knowledge of the game and ability to call the game. He sees everything in front of him, as a catcher needs to do. The catcher is the field-general out there. He has that ability to control the game,” he said.
Egan, a pitcher for the Owls, agreed with Howe.
“I love throwing to him. I’ve thrown to him for eight years so he knows my game. If I were to throw 100 pitches in a game I’d maybe shake him off twice. He knows exactly what pitch I want to throw in any situation. I have no problems throwing to him,” Egan said of Boulay’s talent as a catcher.
“On the field he is a very confident catcher behind the plate,” Mangiagli added.
However, while Boulay has quickly proven himself as a player, he has spent his whole life developing into a teammate, mentor and friend.
“Off the field he is going to be a person who is going to be supportive of what you ask him. If you ask him how to change something on the mound he’ll give you a straight-up answer and that’s respectable. He’s going to answer any questions younger kids have and anything that people have concerns about he’ll be able to converse and talk with you about,” Mangiagli said.
Egan added, “I’ve known him since my freshman year in high school; we started playing baseball in the spring of 2006. This will be the eighth year I’ve known him and we’ve always been really good friends since we’ve met. I see us being friends for probably a lifetime. He’s great — he’s a really funny kid. He always keeps you smiling and laughing.”
Even teammates Boulay hasn’t known for eight years admire him just the same.
“He cares a lot about the game of baseball and puts a lot of effort in on-and-off the field. He has shown us what it’s like to come back from an injury and what it takes to make a full recovery,” senior Andrew Gummow said.
“He’s a great kid, he really is. He is one of the hardest working players I’ve ever had and that says a lot in twenty-eight years. I don’t think there is anybody more prepared to catch forty games out of a forty-game season than Matt Boulay,” Howe said.
Diana Pimer can be contacted at dpimer@keene-equinox.com
Brian Clemmenson contributed to this story.