Watch: Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar's foul ball backfires

Batting with two outs in the fifth inning, St. Louis Cardinals center fielder Nootbaar fouled off an 0-1 pitch, which bounced straight up into an extremely sensitive area. 

Nootbaar immediately writhed on the ground as the concerned broadcasters speculated, "That does not look like it's just a run-of-the-mill, off-the-shin kind of feeling."

When the slow-motion replay confirmed that the ball had drilled Nootbaar right between the legs, the Oakland broadcasters didn't know what to say, settling for a restrained, "Oh."

Nootbaar had to leave the game afterward, hopefully to sit in a bathtub full of ice and contemplate whether he'll have fertility problems in the future. Even the official medical report didn't quite know how to describe the nature of his injury.

While usually the highly painful injuries to the "lower abdomen" happen on bad-hop ground balls, there's occasionally a devastating foul-ball-to-groin collision.

In 2006, with pitcher Matt Cain hitting, Chicago Cubs catcher Michael Barrett took a foul tip to the family jewels. 

Incredibly, Barrett stayed in to bat the next inning, before leaving the game for the emergency room where he was diagnosed with an "intrascrotal hematoma." 

Barrett had to have surgery and missed the rest of the season.

Tommy Edman moved from shortstop to replace Nootbaar in center but then had to leave the game after his own foul ball injury. He hit a ball off his right calf and had to leave the game, though postgame scans showed no leg fracture. 

Nootbaar went to a "non-emergency medical facility," and the Cardinals won't know his status until Thursday.

St. Louis lost to the woeful Oakland A's 8-0, and they probably feel bad about it. Not as bad as Nootbaar feels, however.