A female spectator was struck in the head by a foul ball at Sunday’s Texas Rangers-Detroit Tigers game in Arlington, Texas. She was taken to the hospital for further evaluation, but there has been no update on her condition.
The woman, who hasn’t been named publicly, was seated in the 25th row along the right-field line during Sunday’s matinee when Rangers left fielder Willie Calhoun lined a foul ball in her direction.
Although she was seated next to another fan who did have a glove, the ball still struck the woman in the center of the forehead, immediately opening a bloody wound.
A Rangers spokesperson did not immediately respond to the Daily Mail’s request for an update.
Although she was seated next to another fan who did have a glove, the ball still struck the woman in the center of the forehead
A fan reacts after being stuck in the forehead by a foul ball off the bat of Willie Calhoun
Fan safety has received further scrutiny after a young girl was struck by a foul ball in Houston during a game on May 29. Afterwards, the Chicago White Sox and Washington Nationals announced that they would extend their netting to the foul poles.
Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he would like to see it happen at other ballparks.
‘I think that definitely talks like that need to intensify,’ he said. ‘For me, as we talk about getting ahead of things, I don’t see anything wrong with that idea.’
Calls for more protective netting became more emphatic in 2018 after one fan later died after being hit with a foul ball at Dodgers Stadium.
Linda Goldbloom, 79, was struck in the cheek by a foul ball that flew over the protective netting at a Dodgers game in August of 2018. She died four days later of ‘acute intracranial hemorrhage due to history of blunt force trauma’ from the batted ball.
Detroit Tigers shortstop Niko Goodrum (28) prays after a fan was hit by a foul ball hit by Texas Rangers left fielder Willie Calhoun
On May 29, a young girl (seen crying here) was struck by a foul ball in Houston, Texas during the Astros vs. Cubs game. She was also taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure
In June a teenage Dodgers fan was struck with a foul ball.
Afterwards the team pledged to extend their netting, although the exact timing remains unclear.
‘Fan safety is of the utmost importance to the Dodgers and during the offseason, we began the process of studying how the netting at Dodger Stadium could be configured to provide better protection for our fans,’ read a statement from the team. ‘Once this study is completed, the team will implement the recommended changes and extend the netting at Dodger Stadium.’
MLB Rob Manfred discussed protective netting in early June after the aforementioned incident at Houston’s Minute Maid Park, telling reporters that he did not expect any major changes until after the 2019 season at the earliest.
Specifically, Manfred talked about ‘structural issues’ that would be involved if changes were to be made during the season, according to a report in the Houston Chronicle, but he said that the focus on safety would continue, if not intensify.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred does not expect teams to extend protective netting at stadiums this season despite a recent incident in which a young girl at Houston’s Minute Maid Park was struck by a line-drive foul ball and subsequently hospitalized
‘That conversation will take place not only during the season but, more importantly, during the offseason,’ Manfred said. ‘It’s very difficult given how far the clubs have gone with the netting to make changes during the year. They really are structural issues. But because safety is so important, I’m sure that conversation will begin and continue into the offseason.’
Manfred also said that if putting fan safety first means that ‘the netting has to go beyond the dugouts, so be it. Each ballpark is different. The reason I hesitate with ‘beyond the dugout’ is because a lot of clubs are behind the dugout already.’
The Astros previously extended the netting at Minute Maid Park from dugout to dugout before the 2017 season, and MLB mandated that set-up for all ballparks the following year.
However, Manfred said that not everyone wants to sit behind netting.
‘There is a balance here. We do have fans that are vocal about the fact that they don’t want to sit behind nets,’ Manfred said. ‘I think that we have struck the balance in favor of fan safety so far, and I think we will continue to do that going forward.’
Salazar was taken to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with a concussion