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Baseball fan hit by broken bat has life-threatening injuries, say Boston police
Baseball fan hit by broken bat at Fenway Park in serious condition, says family
(about 4 hours later)
A hospital spokeswoman said more information would be available later Saturday on a woman who was struck by a broken bat in the stands at Fenway Park on Friday night, suffering injuries police called life-threatening.
A fan whose head was bloodied by a broken bat that flew into the stands at Fenway Park on Friday night is in serious condition, her family said in a statement released on Saturday by a Boston hospital.
Kelly Lawman said she was still gathering information regarding the woman’s condition and identity.
The game between the Oakland Athletics and Boston Red Sox was halted in the second inning as emergency crews tended to Tonya Carpenter and wheeled her off the field on a stretcher.
Friday’s game between the Oakland Athletics and the Boston Red Sox was stopped in the second inning as emergency crews tended to the woman. She was carried out on a stretcher and taken to a Boston hospital.
“Tonya’s family and loved ones are grateful to all who have reached out with thoughts and prayers but are requesting privacy at this time as Tonya recovers,” said the statement from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Hospital.
A fan sitting behind the woman said she was bleeding from her head during the incident, which he called “violent”.
No other details were released.
Police said the woman’s injuries were life-threatening. Boston police spokesman David Estrada confirmed she was struck by the bat during a game between the Oakland Athletics and Boston Red Sox.
Oakland’s Brett Lawrie broke his bat on a groundout to second base and part of it hurtled into the stands. Alex Merlis, of Brookline, Massachusetts, said he was sitting in the row behind the woman when the broken bat flew into the seats just a few rows from the field, between home plate and the third base dugout.
On Saturday, Boston police spokeswoman Rachel McGuire said she had no new information on the woman’s condition.
The woman was hit when Oakland’s Brett Lawrie broke his bat on a groundout to second base for the second out of the inning. After the third out, the game was delayed while the fan was tended to in the first few rows of seats between home plate and the third base dugout. She was taken to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
“You try to keep her in your thoughts and, hopefully, everything’s all right and try to get back to the task at hand,” Lawrie said when asked how he was able to refocus after what happened.
“Hopefully everything’s OK and she’s doing all right. I’ve seen bats fly out of guys’ hands in(to) the stands and everyone’s OK, but when one breaks like that, has jagged edges on it, anything can happen.”
Alex Merlis, of Brookline, Massachusetts, said he was sitting in the row behind the woman when the broken bat flew into the stands just a few rows from the field.
“It was violent,” he said of the impact to her forehead and top of her head. “She bled a lot. A lot. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that.”
“It was violent,” he said of the impact to her forehead and top of her head. “She bled a lot. A lot. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that.”
Merlis said the woman had been sitting with a small child and a man. After she was injured, the man was tending to her and other people were trying to console the distraught child, he said.
Police initially called Carpenter’s injuries life-threatening. A department spokeswoman referred all questions on her condition to the hospital on Saturday.
Concerned about a rash of flying broken bats and the danger they posed, Major League Baseball (MLB) studied the issue in 2008 and implemented a series of changes to bat regulations for the following season.
After the game, Lawrie said he hoped the woman would recover.
Multi-piece bat failures are down about 50% since the beginning of the 2009 season, MLB spokesman Michael Teevan said.
“I’ve seen bats fly out of guys’ hands in[to] the stands and everyone’s OK, but when one breaks like that, has jagged edges on it, anything can happen,” he said.
Though dozens of fans at big league ballparks are struck by foul balls each season, there has been only one fatality, according to baseball researchers – a 14-year-old boy killed by a foul line drive off the bat of Manny Mota at Dodger Stadium in 1970.
Concerned about a rash of flying broken bats and the danger they posed, Major League Baseball studied the issue in 2008 and implemented a series of changes to bat regulations for the following season. Multi-piece bat failures are down about 50% since the beginning of the 2009 season, MLB spokesman Michael Teevan said.
The National Hockey League ordered safety netting installed at each end of NHL arenas after 13-year-old Brittanie Cecil was killed by a deflected puck at a Columbus Blue Jackets game in 2002. She died two days later, and her parents eventually settled with the team, the league and the arena management for $1.2m.
Though dozens of fans at big league ballparks are struck by foul balls each season, there has been only one fatality, according to baseball researchers – a 14-year-old boy who was killed by a foul line drive off the bat of Manny Mota at Dodger Stadium in 1970.
“First and foremost, our thoughts and concern, and certainly our prayers, go out to the woman that was struck with the bat, her and her family,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said. “A scary moment, certainly.
The National Hockey League ordered safety netting installed at each end of arenas after 13-year-old Brittanie Cecil was killed by a deflected puck at a Columbus Blue Jackets game in 2002. She died two days later, and her parents eventually settled with the team for $1.2m, the league and the arena management.
“All you can think about is a family, they come to a ballgame to hopefully get three hours of enjoyment, and unfortunately with how close our stands are to the field of action, an accident like this tonight is certainly disturbing.”
