Yankees reduced to tears after little girl struck by foul ball
A young fan is “doing OK” after she was hit in the face by a foul ball during the fifth inning of an 11-3 Yankees win over the Twins on Wednesday in the Bronx.
Joe Girardi gave the positive update after the game, saying he had heard from Stadium security.
The game was delayed for nearly four minutes after a Todd Frazier line drive drilled the female fan in the stands just beyond the third-base dugout. The fan was carried from the stands and then taken to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, according to a source.
Frazier immediately put his hand to his mouth and went to one knee, and other players were visibly shaken by the injury, with Frazier bent down on one knee for much of the stoppage and Matt Holliday, at second base, teary-eyed with the Yankees leading the game 9-3.
Frazier flied out to center later in the at-bat.
In a statement released by the team, the Yankees said “the child who was struck with a batted ball today was given first aid at the ballpark and is receiving medical attention at an area hospital” and declined further comment, citing HIPAA laws.
It’s not the first time this season a spectator has been injured at Yankee Stadium.
An Aaron Judge foul ball hit a male fan in July, leaving him needing medical attention, and in May, a young boy was hit in the head by a Chris Carter broken bat and left bloodied, and a source said the team would continue to look into installing extra netting.
The decision to increase netting is up to individual teams. The Mets extended the netting down the first- and third-base lines following the All-Star break this season.
The Yankees don’t play at home again until Monday against the Royals.
In addition to Citi Field, Atlanta, Houston, Kansas City, Minnesota, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Texas and Washington have extended netting.
Major League Baseball sent out a memo prior to the 2016 season “encouraging” teams to have “netting that shields from line-drive foul balls all field-level seats that are located between the near ends of both dugouts (i.e., the ends of the dugouts located closest to home plate, inclusive of any adjacent camera wells) and within 70 feet of home plate.”