Falling ice smashes windshield of Royals bus on way to hotel

The Kansas City Royals had an even closer call with falling ice in Toronto than when some of it fell from the CN Tower, damaging the roof of the Rogers Centre on Monday and postponing their game with the Blue Jays.

On Sunday night, the Royals narrowly avoided disaster after ice smashed through the windshield of the bus that was bringing the team downtown from Pearson Airport.

The ice hit the bus around midnight at an underpass on the Gardiner Expressway, shattering the windshield and leaving driver Fred Folkerts bloodied.

“We could hear ice sliding all over the place, off our bus even,” said Blaine Boyer, a 36-year-old relief pitcher for the Royals. “I made the comment to somebody, was like, ‘If that ice hits another car … that’s gonna be interesting.’ And then, shoot, 10 minutes later, boom.”

When the ice crashed through the windshield, Boyer jumped to the driver’s aid.

“Fred just absolutely nailed it ... he’s the man,” said Boyer, deflecting credit for his role in steering the bus to the side of the road.

The team eventually made it to its hotel around 2 a.m.

“The bus driver was full of glass,” Royals manager Ned Yost told MLB.com. “They got pulled over, but it was pretty scary there for a little while for the guys on the bus.”

Other than the driver, no one else was seriously injured.

“They got pulled over, but it was pretty scary there for a little while.” NED YOST KANSAS CITY ROYALS MANAGER