The Dan Patrick Show: Covino & Rich – "A Baseball to the Face!"

Date: September 25, 2025
Podcast/Network: iHeartPodcasts and Dan Patrick Podcast Network
Hosts: Steve Covino & Rich Davis
Episode Theme: The physical and emotional impact of getting hit in the face in sports—prompted by a harrowing MLB incident—and tales of memorable (and painful) moments, laughter, and insight on baseball, football, and life.

Episode Overview

In this lively and candid episode, Covino and Rich zero in on a recent frightening MLB event: Cleveland Guardians’ player David Fry taking a 99.6 mph fastball to the face during a game. Through their signature humor and heartfelt banter, the hosts share childhood and adult experiences involving facial injuries, discuss the shot’s implications on Fry and the Guardians, swap listener stories, and riff on broader themes around fear, recovery, and the culture of sports. Additional segments touch on ongoing MLB playoff races, coaching Little League, and the everyday embarrassment and aftermath of sports accidents.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The David Fry Incident

• Summary: The hosts open by reacting to Cleveland Guardian David Fry’s hospitalizing facial injury from a high-and-tight pitch by Tarik Skubal.
• Breakdown:
  • Covino and Rich analyze the play breakdown, noting Fry’s extreme “squaring up” for a bunt put him in harm’s way but stress Skubal’s lack of malicious intent.
  • Empathy is expressed for both players: Fry’s pain and Skubal’s visible regret and shock.
  • Fry, despite sustaining multiple minimal facial fractures, is reported to be in recovery: "Luckily, he’s okay. When I say okay... six to eight week recovery. And that’s great to hear.” (Covino, 08:07)
  • The Guardians, undeterred, win the game and take the division lead.

2. The Psychological Fallout of Sports Injuries

• On Players: The team reflects on the mental trauma, or PTSD, tossed hitters often experience:
  • “He has to be a little apprehensive moving forward, right? There’s got to be that PTSD involved… at least for the next few months.” (Covino, 09:51)
• On Little League: Rich shares how youth ballplayers often need months—or never fully recover—from the fear after being beaned:
  • “Every kid gets hit once in Little League and for the next week, month, two months, maybe the season, [they] are a bit nervous at the plate.” (Rich, 11:01)
• Protective Gear Anecdotes: Covino relates how his friend’s facial injury forced everyone in their Little League to wear a protective mask: “He was that kid... and he was infamous… for that one reason.” (Covino, 09:06)

3. Personal and Listener “Hit in the Face” Stories

• Covino & Rich’s Central Park Listener Event (13:19):

  • During a friendly softball game with listeners in NYC, a wild throw nails a female fan on the sideline. The festive mood evaporates until she’s thankfully found to be okay.
  • “The guy that threw the ball... threw a 90 mile per hour... and it hits this woman square in the face. It took all the fun… sucked all the fun out of the day.” (Covino, 15:14)

• Physical & Emotional Embarrassment:

  • The group unpacks how being hit in the face, even with a dodgeball, is not only physically painful but socially mortifying.

• Listener Call-ins:

  • Tripp (34:02): Remembers the mortification after beaning a left-handed hitter during Pony League.
    • “I hit him square in the helmet. And I was just devastated.” (Tripp, 34:28)
  • Mo (35:32): Describes being struck unexpectedly by a soccer ball, retorting with anger at the wrong culprit, and almost causing a high school riot.
  • Mark in Bakersfield (37:06): Relives the guilt of smashing a co-ed softball participant at third base: “I swing as hard as I can, and it just hits her... straight in the face... That was the last time I ever played coed softball.” (Mark, 37:06)
  • Bruno in Brooklyn (38:58): Recalls a golf practice mishap where a friend walked into a swinging club, resulting in a frightening head injury.

4. The “Would You Rather” Segment: Face vs. Net Region vs. Hands

• Rich muses whether he’d rather be hit in the face, the groin (see recent NFL reference re: Matthew Stafford), or break both wrists.
  • “I think the answer is definitely the huevos. But... I’m not sure about that.” (Rich/Covino, 17:53–18:04)
• General agreement: Face injuries are both terrifying and memorable—“You never forget it.” (Covino, 51:26)

5. Notable Celebrity and Sports Figures’ Facial Injuries

• Reminiscing about wrestler Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake’s reconstructive surgery after a parasailing accident.
  • “They put his face back together based on a picture... he looked relatively handsome... you would have never known.” (Covino, 17:04)
• Reference to MLB star Giancarlo Stanton’s return after facial fractures.

6. Sports Culture—Shame and Resilience

• The hosts reflect on the long memory kids hold for crying after getting beaned: “Even at 65, you remember those kids in Little League that cried when they got hit?” (Covino, 12:30)
• Absorbing and overcoming embarrassment is part of the “sports initiation” for both kids and adults.

7. Safety & Changing Attitudes

• Podcast participants note an increase in adults wearing masks in men’s softball—a practice once ridiculed, now seen as smart after recent harrowing incidents.
  • “Men’s slow pitch softball, there’s guys that are 30, 40 years old, that... swing hard, right?... There was a guy that hit a ball back and knocked the dude in the head unconscious.” (Rich, 22:26–23:09)

8. MLB Standings and Playoff Races

• As a break from injury tales, Rich and Covino recap playoff surges and collapses, focusing on the Guardians overtaking the Tigers, the Mets’ wild card hopes, and the Dodgers’ bullpen woes.
• Dan Beyer provides news and updates, including David Fry’s recovery status and highlights from around MLB and the NFL (41:26–42:57).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Rich (on childhood trauma):
  • “Every kid gets hit once in Little League and... [they] are a bit nervous at the plate.” (11:01)
• Covino (on post-injury nerves):
  • “There’s got to be that PTSD involved of being scared of any high and tight pitch.” (09:51)
• Dan Beyer (medical update):
  • “Multiple fractures on the left side of his face and other nasal fractures as well.” (Dan Beyer, 09:38)
• Covino (on embarrassment):
  • “You never forget it because it’s like a movie... Did that just happen?” (Covino, 18:56)
• Rich (on parent reaction):
  • “Sometimes if you keep your calm, like ‘Are you okay there buddy?’... They don’t cry until you react.” (31:26)
• Listener Mark (softball mishap):
  • “There’s this nice girl playing third base... and it just hits her... straight in the face.” (37:06)
• Covino (recounting a personal/family story):
  • “My little sister is completely knocked out. Not even joking... She had a big lump in her head... yo, we thought we killed her, dude.” (51:22)
• Rich (sports lesson):
  • “Are you injured, or are you scared? Because I think 99% of the time when a kid cries, they’re not injured, they’re just scared.” (32:29)

Important Segment Timestamps

| Time | Segment/Topic | |-------------|----------------------------------------------------| | 03:50 | Hosts’ banter, team intros, show plan reveals | | 06:09–10:49 | Deep dive: Fry’s injury & trauma analysis | | 13:19 | Covino & Rich’s Central Park listener event story | | 17:53–18:55 | “Would You Rather”—face vs. groin vs. wrists | | 21:56 | Discussing safety gear and modern attitudes | | 31:04 | Listener call-ins: Experiences with face injuries | | 41:26 | Dan Beyer’s sports news and Fry medical update | | 47:58 | “Tire Rack Play of the Day”—Guardians clinch win | | 50:13–51:26 | Covino’s little sister’s accident—family trauma |

Overall Tone and Takeaways

• Covino and Rich blend humor, empathy, and candid personal storytelling in exploring how scary and formative being hit (or seeing someone hit) in the face can be—especially in sports.
• The episode is both a heartfelt reflection on the dangers of sports and a tribute to the resilience of athletes (and everyday people) who get back up—physically and emotionally—after taking one “to the face.”
• Advice and lessons for parents, players, and coaches echo throughout: react with calm, use protective gear, don’t let embarrassment linger, and always root for recovery.

For More:

• Listen live on Fox Sports Radio weekdays, catch Covino & Rich on all podcast platforms, and join the conversation on YouTube or social media.

“You never, ever forget it... but she’s alive to tell the story.”
—Steve Covino on the lifelong impression left by a fastball to the face (51:26)