It doesn't get much closer than this!

In case you missed the memo, baseball is finally back! While it's still a few weeks until Opening Day, spring training has begun. And the fans were in attendance when this crazy picture got snapped as the Pittsburgh Pirates took on the Atlanta Braves last Saturday in Florida.

According to TribLive.com, the bat went flying after Pirates outfielder Danny Ortiz lost his grip while swinging. The bat sailed into the crowd behind the Braves dugout. Photojournalist Christoper Horner happened to have his camera in the right place at the right time.

Horner caught the shots showing the quick moves of the fan to get his arm in the way of the bat. Seeing how the bat had done a complete 180 by the next frame shows just how fast it was going. Luckily, the arm deflected the bat instead of going right into the kid's face.

You can see more frames from the photo series at TribLive.com. Thankfully, everyone was alright this time. Hey, more good news, as I mentioned before, baseball is finally back!

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