Alan Fish holds the sad distinction of being the only person killed by a foul ball at a major league baseball game.
On May 16, 1970, the 14-year-old boy went to see the San Francisco Giants play the Los Angeles Dodgers. Alan, his brother and five other boys were on the second row along the first-base line at Dodger Stadium.
In the bottom of the third inning, Dodger outfielder Manny Mota slashed a foul ball into the stands, striking Alan on his left temple.
“The ball came out of nowhere very fast,” David Schur, an assistant playground director who took the boys to the game, told the Los Angeles Times.
Alan initially said he felt fine. Someone from the Giants’ dugout sent up an ice pack. He was taken to the Dodgers’ first-aid station, looked over by a doctor, given two aspirin and returned to his seat, according to published reports.
But after the game, Alan became dizzy and disoriented. His parents took him to a hospital, where he died four days later. An autopsy showed Alan suffered a hairline fracture in his skull, which caused an “intracerebral hemorrhage,” according to “Death at the Ballpark,” a book that chronicles fatalities at baseball games.
Alan’s parents filed suit, alleging the Dodgers failed to provide a safe environment to watch a game. A jury ultimately returned a verdict in favor of the Dodgers and the stadium physician.
Two other spectators have been killed by foul balls at minor league games.
On July 12, 2010, at a game in San Angelo, Texas, Wendy Whitehead was sitting next to her husband in the stands along the third-base line when a foul ball struck her in the head. She died the next day.
On Aug. 27, 1960, 68-year-old Dominic LaSala took his nephew and his nephew’s two children to a minor league game at Miami Stadium. In the top of the seventh, Columbus Jets outfielder Johnny Powers sent a liner into the stands along the third base line that struck LaSala in the head. He died two days later.
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