Keough Knew Dugout Was Potential Hazard : Angels: Pitcher had brought his glove with him to bench, but he had no time to react to line drive that injured him March 16 in Scottsdale.

His first reaction was to chide himself for leaving the bullpen to sit in the dugout, which he knew was dangerously exposed to foul balls.

Not until he felt excruciating pain that left him “seconds from lights out” did Angel pitcher Matt Keough fear he had been seriously hurt by the foul ball that struck him in the head March 16 while he awaited his turn to pitch against the Giants at Scottsdale Stadium.

Keough, who underwent brain surgery soon after the blow, is recuperating at his home in Coto de Caza. He will undergo an electroencephalogram next week to determine his progress, and it’s expected he will be able to resume baseball activities in two months.

Invited to camp as a non-roster player after undergoing rotator cuff surgery last April, Keough, a 36-year-old right-hander, was making a concerted bid to win a spot on the staff.

In a phone conversation Friday, Keough recalled watching teammate Don Robinson pitch to leadoff hitter John Patterson. Aware the dugouts put players’ heads at ground level, Keough had brought his glove with him to the bench. But he wasn’t wearing it when Patterson lined the ball back.

“I put both my hands up, and the ball actually touched my thumb and index finger,” he said. “It was like a big, loud sound goes off in your head. Not like a siren, but a hum, and my feet and hands were tingling and numb. I started rolling forward. . . .

“Laying there, it goes through your head, all the running you’ve done, the progress you’ve made. I was out there pitching not just to pitch, but to get people out. All of that was stripped away. Now I have to live with lines like, ‘You’re lucky to be alive,’ and I know it’s true, but it doesn’t relieve the frustration of the fact you’ve taken a year out of your life to get back to doing what you love to do, and you have it all taken away in an instant.”

A speech problem he experienced after the injury disappeared soon after, and his spirits are good enough to joke with his family and speak to friends and relatives.

“You don’t really know how lucky you are and how many friends you have until you nearly die,” he said.

He also denied reports that he has taken legal action against the city of Scottsdale or the architects of the stadium.

“I just pray that nobody else gets injured or killed,” he said. “You literally have no chance there, I don’t care if you’re Mark Langston, Gold Glove pitcher, because of the proximity of home plate and being at head level.”