In call with Frazier, dad says injured girl ‘OK’
TORONTO — Todd Frazier finally got some peace of mind on Thursday, as the clearly distraught Yankee spoke for five minutes with the father of the young girl he accidentally struck with a 105-mph foul ball a day earlier, landing her in a local hospital.
“He said she’s doing OK,” Frazier said before the Yankees took on the Blue Jays on Friday night at Rogers Centre. “We didn’t really get much into details about it. I didn’t want to cross any boundaries. I know how important family is. But he said
she’s doing well, and he’s a really nice guy.”
“He told me not to stress over it,” Frazier said. “‘We understand how upset you were, but it’s nobody’s fault. It was just one of those freak accidents.’ And he said the family is just happy that she’s ok. That’s the bottom line. I think they’re going to do more tests in a couple days, and then hopefully she can get out of the hospital.”
Frazier said he plans to speak with the family on a daily basis about the young girl’s status. She was attending Wednesday’s game with her grandparents and sitting along the third-base line when she was struck. Details have been sparse due to privacy laws.
“I told (her father) I’m probably going to call every day just to see how she’s doing, and eventually I’m definitely going to want to meet up with them,” Frazier said. “He was happy about that. He said, ‘For sure.’ He knows we’re playing Toronto. He wished me good luck. He’s a Yankee fan, and she is too. It was just an unfortunate event that you wish had never happened.”
Since the incident, Frazier has strongly advocated for netting to be put up across all MLB stadiums. Yankees officials declined comment on the matter when reached on Friday.
“I’m all for protecting fans,” Frazier said. “I see teams already doing it now. I think 2018, that’s too late. I think it should be up sooner than that. It’s just a matter of figuring out how. I don’t know long it takes to put nets up.”
Frazier didn’t feel the same after the “scary” ordeal but said the phone call with the young girl’s father made him feel a lot better. He also Facetimed his own children and was able to see them smile.
The young girl had to be carried from the lower level of seats just beyond the visiting dugout on the third-base line. She was taken to the Morgan Stanley children’s hospital at New York Presbyterian Hospital.
“She’s all right. Keep her in your thoughts,” the young girl’s dad said. He did not give his or his daughter’s name. “She knows she got hit by a baseball. She’s just happy they hit home runs.”
Play was halted for several minutes after the girl was hit. Frazier could be seen crouching down and covering his mouth as the girl received medical aid. Matt Holliday teared up as he watched the scene unfold.
Despite not mandating extra protective netting league-wide, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said the league would “redouble our efforts” on fan safety.
“The events at (Wednesday’s) game involving a young girl were extremely upsetting for everyone in our game,” Manfred said in a statement. “Over the past few seasons MLB has worked with our clubs to expand the amount of netting in our ballparks. In light of (Wednesday’s) events, we will redouble our efforts on this important issue.”
“Our thoughts and prayers continue to be centered around our young fan and her family,” the Yankees said in a statement on Thursday afternoon.