It was a gorgeous summer day. The sun glistened across the field and into the eyes of a little girl, no older than a toddler, giggling as she tipped her baseball cap down to hide her eyes.
The girl was filled with boundless excitement as she watched Yankees third baseman Todd Frazier step up to bat.
Wriggling in her chair with anticipation, she watched as Frazier kicked the bat against his shoes and settled into position.
The pitcher threw the ball. Crack, the bat connected, and the little girl’s world suddenly went black.
That fateful day during a three-game series against the Minnesota Twins, Yankee player Todd Frazier knocked a foul ball into the stands that hit an unsuspecting little girl directly in the face at approximately 105 miles per hour.
Though she survived the incident, it took Frazier, many of his teammates and opponents, and fans all across the stands straight to their knees that day.
With tears in their eyes, they realized where the ball had gone and the game was never the same again.
Since 2015 all major league baseball teams were encouraged to place extended netting around their dugout areas to avoid potential tragedies.
Due to tragic events like this one, fans and players worldwide are urging the MLB to put safety first and mandate extended netting at every ballpark.
