Girl Hit On Head With Foul Ball Traveling 105 MPH At Yankees Game: Players In Tears, Praying For Toddler

A young girl was hit in the head with a foul ball that was traveling 105 mph off the bat of Todd Frazier during Wednesday’s game at Yankee Stadium. There was blood coming from the little girl’s head, which left one ballplayer revealing to the reporters that he couldn’t help but think about his own kids. This young girl, who was said to be a “toddler,” was carried out of the seats as the field was still with all eyes watching what was happening to the child.

The unnamed girl was at the Yankee-Twins game when the foul ball hit her on the head almost immediately after coming off the bat, which is how witnesses described the incident. According to USA Today, this disturbing incident happened at the bottom of the 5th inning, which caused the game to be delayed for a few minutes while people attended to the girl.

Almost immediately, the talk of protective netting was coming from the sports announcers, players, fans in the stadium, as well as fans at home who posted their thoughts online. Social media users first expressed their well wishes to the girl before laying into the need for netting at baseball stadiums.

As you can see in the pictures, the people in the stand looked horrified, but some of the players on the field were in tears, with one dropping to his knees over this accident. Players from both teams reacted to the ball hitting the girl and the girl needing to be carried away from the seats.

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According to the Chicago Tribune, Frazier, who was visibly shaken, was seen crouching on the field with his hands over his face. He fell into that position once the foul ball came off his bat and hit the young girl. He then walked away from the plate, bowed his head before crouching again, and this time rested his head on the end of the bat.

Minnesota Twins player Eduardo Escobar was reportedly crying as Twins center fielder Byron Buxton was seen praying in the outfield when the game came to an abrupt stop once the incident occurred. The second base player for the Twins Brian Dozier and Yankees player Matt Holliday were in tears and saying prayers at second base.

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Frazier said later that he hoped the girl is alright; he said that he has two kids under 3 years old and he immediately thought of his own kids when seeing the girl get hurt. Frazier also said that the person with the girl, possibly her dad, was trying his hardest to protect her as the ball flew in their direction, to no avail.

The upset player also explained how the “ball’s coming at 120 miles an hour at them and the ball’s hooking. So it’s like if you’ve never seen a ball like that, which most people in the world haven’t, it’s very tough.”

Later Dozier talked to reporters and he said, “We’ve been trying to get these teams to put nets up.” The need for protective nets was something that was repeated many times throughout the afternoon by other players.

Dozier also said, “Number one, you don’t bring kids down there. And number two, every stadium needs to have nets. That’s it. I don’t care about the damn view of the fan or what. It’s all about safety. I still have a knot in my stomach.” Yankee player Arron Judge also told reporters that there’s a dire need for protective netting for the reason that was witnessed today.

Commissioner Rob Manfred said at Safeco Field before Wednesday night’s game between Seattle and Texas that this is an “ongoing discussion in the industry.” He also added, “We gave some guidelines two years ago, and what we have done since then is that we have encouraged the individual clubs to engage in a localized process, look at their own stadiums — every stadium’s different — and to try to make a good decision about how far the netting should go in order to promote fan safety.”

While the Mets extended nets beyond the outfield ends of the dugouts after this season’s All-Star Break, the Yankees team posted a statement on their website back in August conveying that they “are seriously exploring extending the netting prior to the 2018 season.”

The girl, who was bleeding from the impact of the foul ball, was taken to a local hospital. The last update on the girl was that while she is still hospitalized, she is expected to be alright. Due to the laws that govern patient’s rights, the hospital could not comment on her condition and her name could not be revealed. A video describing the incident is posted below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YZDU-4q_FA

[Featured Image by Andrea Catenaro/Shutterstock]