Girl Hit by Foul Ball Suffered a Skull Fracture

Family attorney gives first update on stadium injury
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jun 26, 2019 7:02 PM CDT
Girl Hit by Ball Suffered Skull Fracture, Had a Seizure
A young child is carried from the stands after being injured by a foul ball in Houston in May.   (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

An attorney for the family of a 2-year-old girl struck by a foul ball during a game last month between the Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros said Wednesday that the girl suffered a skull fracture. Attorney Richard Mithoff provided the first update by the girl's family on her condition since she was hit during the May 29 game in Houston. Mithoff said the girl had bleeding and swelling in her brain as well as a brain contusion after she was hit, the AP reports. He said she had a seizure after she was hospitalized and is taking medication to prevent more seizures. The girl was injured when Cubs outfielder Albert Almora Jr. hit a fourth-inning line drive into the stands down the third-base line.

Like all major league stadiums, Minute Maid Park has netting to protect fans near the field from foul balls. On the third base side in Houston, it extends to the end of the visiting team's dugout. In a statement released Wednesday, a spokeswoman for the family said they were sitting one section away from where the netting ends at Minute Maid Park. The Astros declined comment on the situation on Wednesday. Following recommendations from Major League Baseball, by the start of the 2018 season all 30 teams had expanded their protective netting to at least the far ends of the dugouts after several fans were injured by foul balls in 2017. (The White Sox will extend netting to the foul poles.)

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