Rangers spotlight: Freak driving incident no longer constantly in Gimenez’s mind

More than a month has passed since Chris Gimenez had the wildest experience of his life as he sat on a highway off ramp in his hometown of Reno, Nev.

On the highway above him and behind him, a snow plow sent a drainage grate hurtling through the air, and it struck the cab of Gimenez’s truck.

Had Gimenez been a few feet closer to the car in front of him or a few feet further away, he could have suffered a serious injury only weeks before spring training.

But that was Feb. 1. Time has passed and the memory is no longer on his mind as frequently as it once was, but it still will leave him shaking his head when he does think of it.

“Not anymore, no, but for a while, yeah,” Gimenez said Saturday. “I didn’t want my truck to get messed up again. But I think I’m a little more aware of what’s going on.”

The 35-pound grate destroyed the cab of Gimenez’s truck, and the repairs cost more than $8,000. Had it gone through the window at the back of the cab, it could have struck him in the back of the head.

“I was lucky,” Gimenez said.

This story was originally published March 12, 2016 at 2:05 PM with the headline "Rangers spotlight: Freak driving incident no longer constantly in Gimenez’s mind."