A cameraman was struck in the head by an errant throw during Wednesday’s game between the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium, resulting in an orbital fracture.
The throw came from Baltimore’s Gunnar Henderson. The rookie shortstop was attempting to complete a double play in the fifth inning when he sailed a toss past first baseman Ryan O’Hearn. The ball flew into the camera well to the right side of the Yankees’ dugout and hit Pete Stendel, a YES Network cameraman.
“Every time that a ball goes over the first baseman or even a foul ball from the hitter, you don’t want to see it going towards a fan. It just happened to be in the wrong spot, and I hope he’s doing all right,” Henderson said after the game. “My prayers go out to him. I’m just thankful for the guys that rushed over there to help him.”
The game was delayed for 17 minutes as the Yankees’ training staff and other medical personnel attended to Stendel.
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Stendel waved and gave a peace sign to the crowd as he was carted off the field.
YES Network said Wednesday night that Stendel was conscious and undergoing tests at the hospital. The network followed up on Thursday and said Stendel is resting at home.
“It was good to see him obviously coherent and obviously raise his hand,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “It was very scary. ... Just hope he's OK.”
MLB
Following the delay, Orioles starter Dean Kremer was given a handful of warmup pitches and play resumed. Baltimore went on to win 6-3, and Henderson addressed if the errant throw affected him the rest of the game.
“I'm doing pretty fine,” he said. “Yeah, it sucks that happened to him, but it's just trying to play the game hard. Sometimes that happens.”
