EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- Anthony Molina isn't ready to forgive, and he certainly hasn't forgotten the April 23 pregame beaning he suffered at the hands of Wichita State pitcher Ben Christensen.
The University of Evansville junior has two blind spots in his left eye to remind him every day.Last week, he received a letter of apology from Christensen.
"Even in the letter, he said, 'This is a little late,"' Molina said. "He said he hopes I get better and, like any other opponent, he has the greatest respect for me. But my thought is that if you respect somebody, you're not going to do what he did."
Asked if he were willing to accept the apology and forgive Christensen, Molina replied, "Not now, no. I don't know if I ever will be."
Molina returned to Evansville on Wednesday to begin taking the final exams he missed as a result of the beaning. But his biggest test is far from over. That will come in the weeks following his scheduled eye surgery on June 22.
"When my vision improved to 20/80 from 20/125, that made me optimistic," Molina said. "But doctors still can't give me any guarantees that the surgery will fix things. I've lost 20 pounds because of the medication I've been on. I know there's a long way to go."
Officials from ABC's World News Tonight have told Molina that a segment about the beaning was to air late this week, giving the story its widest exposure yet.
Before he was interviewed for the piece, Aces baseball coach Jim Brownlee asked an ABC producer how rare it was for the network to pick up a sports story for its nightly newscast. He said the answer was quick in coming: "We don't consider this a sports story."
Neither does Carolyn Molina. She drove through the night from the family's home in Moline, Ill., to Wichita, Kansas, after hearing of the beaning. And after she got to her son, she sprang into action. She photographed her son's eye and, between doubleheader games, took photos around home plate at Eck Stadium, where blood stains still remained.
Those photos are part of the basis for a civil lawsuit that is expected to be filed.