A young girl was taken from Yankee Stadium on a stretcher Thursday afternoon after being struck in the face with a line-drive foul ball off the bat of New York Yankees third baseman Todd Frazier. In an emotional scene, players for the Yankees and Minnesota Twins watched as she was carried from the ballpark and afterward Frazier called for additional netting to protect fans.
The incident occurred in the fifth inning of the Yankees' afternoon game against the Twins. Frazier pulled a pitch sharply over the third-base line, then immediately crouched down, with his hands over his mouth, as he stared intently into the stands. Other players, including New York's Matt Holliday, were seen wiping away tears, as play was delayed for several minutes while medical personnel attended to the toddler. She was whisked away by a man later identified as her grandfather and taken to New York-Presbyterian/Columbia Hospital.
He and a man who identified himself as the girl's father spoke briefly with reporters and, when asked if she would need surgery, her father replied (via the New York Times): "It's too early to tell." The family's name and the girl's condition were not disclosed. However, a Yankee Stadium paramedic to whom The Times granted anonymity said that she appeared to have been struck in the nose and right eye.
"That was a screaming line drive," Tom Barton, a fan who said he was seated three rows behind the girl, told The Times. "I just wanted to cry for this little kid. There was so much blood."