Royals describe scene in bullpen when fan was injured in fall from Chicago stands
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- A fan fell over a short railing into the Royals bullpen during Wednesday’s game.
- The fan was breathing but initially had no pulse; his pulse returned en route.
- Play wasn't stopped until the top of the fourth when the fan was removed.
The Royals’ relief pitchers breathed a collective sigh of relief when they got good news before the team’s series-ending game against the White Sox at Rate Field on Thursday.
The fan who fell into the Royals’ bullpen during Wednesday night’s game apparently was feeling better after being taken to the hospital.
“We reached out to the fan to check on his well-being, and his friend was able to share a positive report,” the White Sox said in a statement. “The entire White Sox organization and clubhouse wish him a full and speedy recovery.”
That also was the wish of the Royals’ relievers and staff who were nearby when the man fell over a short railing and into the visiting team’s bullpen in right field.
They described the scene.
Mitch Stetter, the Royals’ bullpen coach and assistant pitching coach, was sitting on the bench on one side of the bullpen when the accident happened on the other end. It was a chilly night and the heaters were on, so he didn’t hear when the man landed — but others did.
“I saw some of the guys that were sitting out by the fence had turned around, and they got up, and they were looking,” Stetter said. “So I stood up and saw the security guy was running over there, and there was a guy on the ground.
“He was just laying there. The security guard was trying to get the paramedics right away.”
The pitchers had their gear by a door that led underneath the stadium, so they quickly cleared a path for the paramedics.
“It took a little while for them to get there. But he was just laying there,” Stetter said. “We didn’t know if he broke his neck, but it was definitely really a scary situation.”
After paramedics arrived, security held up towels to provide privacy as the man was being treated.
“Honestly, it didn’t look real good at the time. You didn’t see any movement,” Stetter said. “We had heard that he was breathing, but he didn’t have a pulse right away, they said. And they got that back on the way to the emergency room.”
Unfortunately for Royals relief pitcher John Schreiber, it wasn’t the first time he’d seen a fan fall from the stands.
”That’s my second time dealing with that,” said Schreiber, who was with the Red Sox in 2023 when a Phillies fan tumbled from the stands into Boston’s bullpen. “In Philly, a fan did the same thing. He hit his head on the concrete. It’s very scary. Yeah, it’s not fun to see that happen.”
Schreiber also was on the bench, so he didn’t witness the fall on Wednesday. But like his teammates, Schreiber did see the man as he was lying on the ground near where a home plate is located in the bullpen area where pitchers warm-up.
“It’s obviously worrisome when you see somebody going through something like that,” Schreiber said.
Royals right-hander Nick Mears said the pitchers made sure the paramedics had all the room they needed to treat the fan.
“Baseball is just a game when it comes to that stuff,” Mears said. “In my mind, obviously human lives are something different. So I mean, (we were) kind of just creating space for all of the people to come in and try to help him out. Trying to make sure that he had the best care that he could get in that moment was kind of our priority.”
The fan fell in the bottom of the third inning, but play wasn’t stopped until the top of the fourth when the man was removed on a gurney.
Schreiber later came on in relief, and Stetter said he was a little concerned about getting the pitcher’s focused on the game following the accident.
“You could tell like it affected some of the guys a little differently than others,” Stetter said. “I feel like even myself, my legs were a little queasy for a couple innings, because you really thought, did he die? Is he dead? Did he die on the field? And that’s what everyone, I think, was thinking, possibly.
“And I think everybody kind of had that little queasy feeling, and it kind of took a couple innings but the guys did well. They still stayed with their preparation and got their work done, and we were able to get through it.”
