A girl was struck by a foul ball at Yankee Stadium and carried out from the stands Wednesday afternoon, an incident that will likely spur more calls for the New York Yankees to extend protective netting behind home plate.
Just six weeks after the Yankees said they would "seriously explore" extending the netting before the 2018 season following a similar incident, a girl was struck by a 105 mph foul ball off the bat of Todd Frazier in the bottom of the fifth inning.
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The game against the Minnesota Twins was delayed for about 4 minutes minutes while she was attended to and then carried from the seats as players from both teams reacted. Frazier took a knee as she was carried away.
#Yankees #Twins game stops after a Todd Frazier foul ball hits a kid in the stands. Scary moment in New York. pic.twitter.com/D4RKc4egXS
— Aldo Soto (@AldoSoto21) September 20, 2017
Child appeared responsive as an older gentleman carried the child out of view. A fan seated nearby gave thumb's up in Frazier direction.
— Mike Berardino (@MikeBerardino) September 20, 2017
Twins center fielder Byron Buxton prayed in the outfield and teammate Eduardo Escobar was reportedly crying.
"I thought of my kids," Said Frazier after the game, still shaken. "I have two kids under 3 years old and I just hope she's all right. I know the dad or whoever it was that was with them was trying their hardest, but 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."
''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," the Yankees said in a written statement. "The federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, known as HIPAA, prevents the team from giving more information. We will have no further comment at this time.''
At a July 25 game, an Aaron Judge foul ball - clocked at 105 mph - struck a fan in the head and he required emergency response.
Following that incident, the Yankees said they were consulting with manufacturing and design firms on how to extend the netting at their stadium.
In the wake of a grim 2015 accident in which a woman at Boston's Fenway Park was struck in the head by a flying piece of a broken bat, Major League Baseball issued recommendations - but not requirements - for clubs to install protective netting. Many clubs proceeded to do so, most recently the New York Mets following July's All-Star break.
The Mets extended the 30-foot protective netting by four sections on either side of home plate. Two sections beyond the dugouts have an 8-foot net.
"We've been trying to get these teams to put nets up," said Twins second baseman Brian Dozier 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."
Said MLB Commisioner Rob Manfred on July 27: “We continually are talking to the individual clubs about what they should be doing in each of their stadiums I think the reluctance to do it on a league-wide basis only relates to the difficulty of having a single rule that fits 30 stadiums that obviously are not designed the same way.”
Said Yankees manager Joe Girardi: "I'm for making everything as safe as possible for everyone at the ballpark — players, too."
Contributing: AP
