In baseball, a line drive is a type of batted ball, sharply hit, and on (or slightly above) a level trajectory. The threshold between a line drive (also sometimes called a liner or frozen rope) and a fly ball can be subjective.
Line drives can be dangerous to baseball players and spectators. For example, on July 22, 2007, Tulsa Drillers first base coach Mike Coolbaugh was killed in a line drive accident at an away game with the Arkansas Travelers.
On August 18, 2012, Boston Red Sox pitching prospect Brian Johnson (at the time playing for Lowell Spinners) broke multiple orbital bones when he was struck by a line drive in a game at Fenway Park.
Famous quotes containing the words line and/or drive:
“There’s something like a line of gold thread running through a man’s words when he talks to his daughter, and gradually over the years it gets to be long enough for you pick up in your hands and weave into a cloth that feels like love itself. It’s another thing, though, to hold up that cloth for inspection.”
—John Gregory Brown (20th century)
“It is possible to lead astray an entire generation, to strike it blind, to drive it insane, to direct it towards a false goal. Napoleon proved this.”
—Alexander Herzen (1812–1870)