Matt Shoemaker SEATTLE, WA – SEPTEMBER 04: Starting pitcher Matt Shoemaker #52 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim is helped off the field after being hit in the head with a batted ball off the bat of Kyle Seager of the Seattle Mariners in the second inning at Safeco Field on September 4, 2016 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)

Baseball isn’t supposed to be a life-or-death situation, yet that is exactly what it turned in to for Los Angeles Angels pitcher Matt Shoemaker on Sept. 4, 2016.

A line drive hit struck him in the head and in the exact right spot to cause his surgeon to tell him it was live or die based on what he found. With a hematoma and a fractured skull, certainly things weren’t going to be immediately ok for the 30-year-old pitcher.

“After everything was OK, he said with the epidural, kind of the bleed that I had, you literally live or die,” Shoemaker said of his surgeon to ABC News.

The good news is that Shoemaker is living to tell his story, albeit with a titanium plate in his head. Now he’s willing to change the look and feel of his uniform on the mound in the name of safety.

In an interview with Good Morning America on Thursday, Shoemaker said he is willing to try any options for more protection on the mound as long as they don’t hinder his ability to pitch.

“I am 100 percent trying all these options in the off-season, you know, to see, you know, comfort, fit, all that stuff,” he said. “It if feels and works like a baseball hat, I’d be definitely willing to wear it.”

With player safety and concussion issues being front and center in the world of sports in 2016, one area that baseball is still trying hard to address is that of the protection from baseballs to the head for pitchers.

To that end, Major League Baseball has been in discussion with a number of manufacturers over a prototype that could become a protective helmet for pitchers on the mound.

Even though they stand 60 feet, 6 inches away from home plate, it takes a matter of milliseconds for the ball to get back to the mound. In fact, there is no scarier play in baseball than that of a comebacker to the mound.

Often times it ends in a spectacular grab from the pitcher, but when it doesn’t, it can end all sorts of bad.

Shoemaker knows that all-too-well, and his willingness to explore all his options on the table is a huge step in the right direction to help make America’s Pastime safer.

Despite his brush with death, Shoemaker is anxiously awaiting his CT scan in four weeks time. If he is cleared, look for him toeing the rubber at a ballpark near you very soon.

[ABC News]

About Andrew Coppens

Andy is a contributor to The Comeback as well as Publisher of Big Ten site talking10. He also is a member of the FWAA and has been covering college sports since 2011. Andy is an avid soccer fan and runs the Celtic FC site The Celtic Bhoys. If he's not writing about sports, you can find him enjoying them in front of the TV with a good beer!