Twins trio avoids near car crash, shaken by experience

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Three Twins players escaped a harrowing experience on Monday when a car went airborne over their cars just a few minutes away from the club¡¯s Spring Training complex.

¡°I look up and I just see a car flying,¡± infielder Edouard Julien said.

Reliever Jorge Alcala and his brother Juan were in one car, and Julien and outfielder Matt Wallner were in another one behind them. Julien said that a motorist in an oncoming lane drove into a median between the two lanes and went into the air, going over them before landing on their side of the road. Julien said he was able to see the underside of the other vehicle as it passed by.

None of the players was hurt, and the other driver did not make contact with either of their vehicles. But they were all shaken by the experience.

¡°We were just driving straight on that street, and we see a car that was going pretty fast, but honestly, Wallner let me know,¡± Julien said. ¡°He started screaming, like, ¡®Oh my God! Oh my God!¡¯ He was cussing a little bit, and I¡¯ve never heard Wallner scared like that. So I look up, and I just see a car that¡¯s in a ditch, like in the middle of the road, just going through bushes and going through trees, smaller trees. And all of a sudden, he just jumps up, like six feet in the air.¡±

The players were on their way to Port Charlotte, where the Twins were scheduled to play the Rays in a Grapefruit League game. The game was washed out after two innings due to heavy rain.

Conditions at the time were dry, though. Alcala said his brother was driving at about 40 mph on a road just a few minutes from Lee Health Sports Complex.

¡°It was something really scary, a little traumatizing,¡± Alcala said through an interpreter.