An 8-year-old Los Angeles Dodgers fan is recovering and in good condition after taking a foul ball to his eye off the bat of All-Star slugger Mookie Betts.
The frightening scene unfolded during the fourth inning of Friday’s game against the visiting Cincinnati Reds. Seated midway up the Dodger Stadium stands on the first-base side of the field was the Sanchez family and their son
Nathan, who brought his glove to the game hoping to catch a foul ball.
Unfortunately, this projectile was simply too fast for Nathan.
‘As soon as the ball hits him, all I hear is, ”My eye!”’ Daisy Sanchez, the mother of young Nathan, told KTLA.
Fortunately for Nathan, a doctor was seated nearby and quickly attended to the young Dodgers fan until stadium medical personnel arrived. Best of all, Nathan was soon cleared to return to the game, which his Dodgers won, 7-3, thanks to leadoff homer by Betts.
Fortunately for Nathan, a doctor was seated nearby and quickly attended to the young Dodgers fan until stadium medical personnel arrived. Best of all, Nathan was soon cleared to return to the game, which his Dodgers won, 7-3, thanks to leadoff homer by Betts.
Betts.
Nathan Sanchez is seen with his parents Daisy and Samuel at their home in Lynwood
Nathan Sanchez was later given the ball by a fan who was seated nearby on Friday
Los Angeles Dodgers’ Mookie Betts reacts after a foul ball during the sixth inning on Friday
Blue Jays fan left with black eye after being hit by 110MPH foul bal
As seen in KTLA footage, Nathan’s eye is bruised, but he didn’t suffer any significant injury.
‘So many things crossing through your mind,’ Nathan’s father, Samuel Sanchez, told KTLA. ‘Walking up the stairs when the medics came to look at him.’
Fortunately for Nathan, a nearby fan gathered the foul ball and gave it to the 8-year-old upon his return.
Now the family would like to see the memento signed.
‘We just want our ball signed, the ball that hit him,’ the family told KTLA. ‘At least a signature, you know?’
‘We just want our ball signed, the ball that hit him,’ the family told KTLA. ‘At least a signature, you know?’
Sanchez received some stickers and a button after being struck, but hopes to get an autograph
They family received some stickers and a button from the team, but they were hoping to see more in the way of communication about the incident. The Dodgers have not commented publicly.
In 2019, there was a mandate by Major League for teams to extend protective netting between the stands and field of play.
Prior to that 2019 change, NBC News found 808 reports of fan injuries from foul balls over the previous seven years – and that study lacked data from 26 ballparks.
Getting an autograph from Betts shouldn’t be too hard, as he has a reputation for being gracious with fans.
In 2021, Betts surprised one spectator, Michael Diddle, in Cincinnati with an autographed bat after the fan was nice enough to return a home-run ball that had been hit by a Reds rookie.
Cincinnati’s TJ Friedl homered for his first major-league hit in September of 2021.
Upon realizing the significance of the moment, Betts called on Diddle to throw it back into the outfield so that it could be returned to Friedl as a memento.
Betts is seen giving Diddle an autographed bat for rookie TJ Friedl’s first home run ball
Betts was secretly recorded giving food to homeless people in downtown Boston in 2018
Diddle obliged and was rewarded the next inning when Betts returned to right field with an autographed bat to give to the man.
‘It’s incredible,’ Friedl said afterwards. ‘For [Betts] to do something like that, it’s definitely just world class out of him. I want to go over there [to the Dodgers clubhouse] and just say ”thank you” in person.’
A two-time World Series winner who was named American League MVP with the Boston Red Sox in 2018, Betts has developed a reputation for kindness over his eight Major League seasons.
For instance, after beating the Dodgers in Game 2 of the 2018 World Series, Betts was secretly recorded giving food to homeless people gathered around Boston’s public library.
In 2015, he and then-teammate Blake Swihart were seen giving pizza to a homeless man in New York as well.
