Concern as foul ball appears to injure young girl at Major League game
There was a scary incident at a Major League Baseball game between the Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs on Wednesday (Thursday AEST), with a young girl apparently being struck by a foul ball by Cubs outfielder Albert Almora Jr in the fourth innings at Houston's Minute Maid Park.
A line-drive foul ball by Almora Jr missed the netting protecting fans down the third base line and struck a child in the crowd. The child was then carried out of the stands for medical care.
According to the Twitter account for Houston radio station KBME 790 AM (SportsTalk790), the child, reportedly a girl, was expected to be OK but still was taken to a hospital.
Almora was visibly upset and he eventually struck out to conclude his fourth-inning at-bat.
After the half-inning ended, he went over to a security guard in the section where the child was hit to inquire about the injury. He and the security guard embraced and Almora was visibly sobbing after they spoke.
Major League Baseball mandated in 2015 that protective netting be extended further down the foul lines, and all 30 teams complied, but balls and bats have still been getting past them.
David LeVasseur, a Houston resident sitting in the section where the child was hit, was reported by the Houston Chronicle as saying: "It bounces, comes down and hits the guy to my left off ricochet and the next thing you know it's at my feet. I pick it up and all we heard was screaming.
"We saw this dad pick up a child and run up the stairs. He took off running. I (came) upstairs and see the first-aid guys up there and the dad is holding the girl. She (was) alert, she's conscious, she's fine. I was just going to give somebody in the family the ball. They kind of, naturally, shook it off. I asked the first-aid guy if she was OK and he said he didn't know."
Immediate efforts to find the stricken child or the family were unsuccessful, the Chronicle reported.
Reuters