A scary moment occurred during the fourth inning of the Cubs 2-1 win over the Astros on Wednesday night when Albert Amora Jr. yanked a line drive foul down the third base line. Unfortunately, his ball apparently struck a child that was sitting in the stands. Amora immediately went to his knees while Astros catcher Robinson Chirinos looked away. The assumed parent of the child picked up the child and ran up the stairs to speak with security.
Albert Almora Jr down on one knee after a foul ball apparently hit a small kid/baby in the stands. Was rushed upstairs immediately. Minute Maid has gone quiet. Awful scene here
— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) May 30, 2019
A really tough scene at Minute Maid Park over the last inning. Albert Almora Jr. of the Cubs hit a hard line-drive foul into the stands that hit a young child. Almora Jr. was extremely shaken up and after the next half inning, he was consoled by MMP security personnel. pic.twitter.com/2hfHX4hvNd
— SportsTalk 790 (@SportsTalk790) May 30, 2019
Luckily, the news did not turn out to be as bad as originally thought. The girl was reportedly sent to the hospital as a safety precaution while being both awake and alert.
The Houston Chronicle tracked down the fan that caught the foul ball and said there was no blood on the ball. The fan also said they went to go check on the child.
“All we heard was screaming,” said LeVasseur, 26. “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 their family were unsuccessful. The Astros issued a statement following the game.
“The young fan that was struck by a foul ball during tonight’s game was taken to the hospital,” the statement said. “We are not able to disclose any further details at this time. The Astros send our thoughts and prayers to the entire family.”
If the child is indeed okay then this is a very lucky moment. You never want to see people getting hurt from foul balls, but this is also another example of why baseball has to extend the netting. It’s a simple safety measure and it wouldn’t hurt anything except maybe a little bit of the view for some closer sitting fans, but that should be nothing compared to the safety fans in the stadium. Cubs star Kris Bryant shared a similar sentiment following the game.
Following the awful incident with a child getting hit by a ball in the Cubs-Astros game, Kris Bryant was unequivocal, telling ESPN that Major League Baseball needs to extend netting further down the lines to prevent hard-hit balls rocketing into the stands and injuring fans.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) May 30, 2019
Hopefully this young fan makes a full recovery and baseball uses this as the impetus to extend the netting further down the lines.
