MLB player suffers facial fracture after taking a pitch directly to the face

"That flap, man, that thing just saved my life."

You never want to  see this:

Keon Broxton, the 26-year-old outfielder for the Milwaukee Brewers, was hit in the face by a 92-MPH fastball thrown by Colorado rookie pitcher Antonio Senzatela in the second inning of their ball game.

Broxton was wearing a helmet with a flap, which appeared to take a brunt of the impact. Still, Broxton went down hard, and the umpire frantically waved for help.

The Brewers would later announce that Broxton suffered a slight nasal fracture, but manager Craig Counsel said the injury could have been much worse.  "He avoided something incredibly serious," Counsell told reporters.

Broxton went even further.

After the game, he told reporters:

"That flap, man, that thing just saved my life. The crazy thing about it is I was thinking about taking it off a couple days ago, too, and then this happens. I'm never taking that thing off."

This is how Broxton looked in the locker room afterwards:

ESPN reported that it looks like Broxton won't have to go on the disabled list.