Incidents Reported So Far In 2025
Below is a chronological account of injuries and noteworthy incidents involving balls and bats hitting fans, players, umpires and others in Major League Baseball thus far in 2025. These were gathered through a combination of traditional reporting and modern monitoring techniques that FBSN can now apply retroactively to prior seasons.
March 2025
Mariners radio broadcaster Rick Rizzs was hit in the back of the head by a foul ball that sailed over the netting and into the booth during a Spring Training game against the Brewers.
Two weeks later, sportswriter Jake Devin was hit in the face by a line-drive at a Yankees game. He suffered multiple fractures, blacked out, and was taken to the ER. He writes, “I stood up in a state of shock as blood began to pour from my face.”
April 2025
A man suffered a broken nose from a ricocheting foul ball during batting practice at an Astros game. Blood covered the seats and floor. A witness posted, “BP (batting practice) is dangerous, y’all” to his social media account.
Bleacher Report shared a video of a woman struck by a foul ball at a Braves game. “That hurt,” a broadcaster exclaimed. “Yeah it did,” another responded. Then, three more foul balls were hit towards her in the same at bat (AB). “Look out!” the announcers shouted, laughing as the woman mouthed, “Oh, come on!”
Veteran Umpire Hunter Wendelstaadt was hit in the face by a foul ball during the Twins-Mets game. He was hospitalized and has not yet returned to work.
A social media user shared video footage of her ankle, showing visible stitching from the baseball that hit her at the Rockies game.
Just three days later, a Dodgers fan shared a viral clip of the aftermath of her being struck by a “100mph foul ball.” Her lip showed visible swelling and she reported that it was difficult to speak. “That happens a lot over here,” the medic tells her in the video. “It happens a lot?,” she asks, in shock.
That same night, a woman at PNC park was struck in the head by a foul ball, requiring stitches and a head wrap from stadium medics.
May 2025
A young boy was hit in the head by a foul ball at a Braves game. Video footage shows him bleeding and crying out in pain.
Broadcaster Melanie Newman was struck in the head during the Red Sox-Orioles game.
Bryan Woo, pitcher for the Mariners, was hit in the dugout by a foul ball.
A social media user shared video footage of himself shielding a woman from a foul ball at an Astros game. He claims the ball struck him in the hand and "saved her life."
June 2025
A woman was hit in the face by a homerun ball (not a foul ball) at a Phillies game and taken to the hospital.
A woman on social media reported a child was struck in the head by a foul ball that flew over the netting behind the Phillies dugout. “It bounced super high off the child's head,” she reported, and said the injured child was crying.
Rays pitcher Hunter Bigge exited on a stretcher after being hit in the head by a foul ball in the dugout. He received surgery for several facial fractures.
A bat flew into the seats at Yankee Stadium. One broadcaster remarked, “Fortunately, nobody was in harm’s way of that boomerang,” while another admitted the Yankees “have one of the lower nets.”
A social media user posted that he had been hit by a foul ball at an Astros game and was mildly concussed.
Nationals catcher Keibert Ruiz suffered a concussion after being hit by an 82 mph foul ball in the dugout.
July 2025
A mother was struck by a foul ball at an A’s game while handing food to her children. Her husband instinctively threw his hands up to catch it, but missed. Cooper Neill shared that he was hit in the brow by a foul ball and experienced facial swelling and a corneal scratch. “It took a few days for the swelling to go down enough for me to open my eye and about two weeks for my vision to get back to normal,” he writes.
Reporter Audra Martin took a foul ball line-drive to the stomach, resulting in a bruise. “Ever wondered what a line drive foul ball to the gut looks like?,” she shared on social media.
A toddler was hit by a foul ball at a Braves game. She is seen on the televised broadcast crying out in pain.
Mets announcer Keith Hernandez was nearly hit in the head by a foul ball in the booth. The crew laughed it off, noting how close it came.
A woman was hit in the ankle by a foul ball at a Yankees game. She shared video footage to social media of her icing her ankle in the stands. "What a shot," she wrote.
A woman shared images of her 13 year-old autistic son on a gernie after he was struck in the nose by a foul ball at a Dodger game.
A man shared an image of his eye after it was struck by a foul ball at a Guardians game, emphasizing that he was paying close attention when the incident occurred.
A social media user shared footage of fans crowding around a foul ball victim who was struck during a game at Dodger Stadium. "Ouch," they wrote.
A woman shared footage of her two co-workers getting struck in the face by a foul ball at a Red Sox game, during a company outing.
A security guard is seen being struck in the head by a foul ball during the televised broadcast of the Brewer's Alumni Homerun Derby.
A social media user shared an image of a giant bruise on their thigh, due to getting struck by a foul ball during a Mets game.
August 2025
A foul ball struck a security guard working the game. He is seen on the broadcast falling to the ground after the ball strikes him.
A woman was struck in the eye by a ball at a Braves game.
A social media user shared footage of a woman getting escorted out of a Phillies game in a wheelchair by medical staff, while icing her head. "She must not have seen that homerun ball coming," the user wrote.
A child is shown on the televised broadcast, being struck by a foul ball in the stands during batting practice at a Padres game.
September 2025
A social media user shared he took a line-drive right off the bat at a Padres game. "I can barely move my ring finger," he writes.
Red Sox reporter Natalie Noury was struck in the arm by a foul ball, and had to pixelate the wound image before it could be shared online.
An innocent fan was struck in the throat and injured when a catcher for the Royals threw a ball into the stands out of anger, attempting to hit a fan who was heckling him.
Amanda Brennaman, wife of long-time Reds Broadcaster Marty Brennaman, was struck by a foul ball in the chest after it sailed over the netting.
A social media user shared footage of a foul ball striking a fan in the eye in the row in front of him at a Marlins game. "You can see blood instantly," a user commented.
More Unreported Injuries
Using modern tools, Foul Ball Safety Now has uncovered numerous previously overlooked injuries from past years. This strongly suggests that the 2025 findings are just the tip of the iceberg. Many injuries have likely gone unreported, unrecorded, or ignored.
Below are just a few examples that FBSN surfaced with minimal effort, reinforcing the need for comprehensive retrospective research across previous seasons.
2024
A social media user shared a firsthand account of witnessing a man struck by a foul ball at a Dodgers game. "It sounded like the ball hit cement. Except it wasn't cement, it was his face. He was bleeding significantly and had to be helped out," the user wrote.
A social media user reported that his friend was struck by a home ball behind home plate at the Mets game, dropping a tray of drinks.
A social media user shared that a fan was 'nailed' in the face by a foul ball during a Guardians game. "It didn't look good," they wrote.
A social media user shared they took a 'foul ball to the face' at a Padres Game.
February 2024
A foul ball damaged the window of Reds player Hunter Greene's car during batting practice.
March 2024
A Twins cameraman received a catcher's helmet after being struck multiple times by foul balls in the legs in the camera well.
April 2024
A social media user posts some clips from a Washington Nationals game with the caption, “Witnessed that dad in front of me get impaled by a foul ball in the chest.”
A woman shared images of her little boy being tended to by medical staff at Dodger stadium, after he was struck in the face by a foul ball.
May 2024
May 2024 - A social media user shares the aftermath of an Astros foul ball shattering his car windshield. “Well, we won the championship, but my window broke!,” he exclaimed.
A woman shared footage of herself icing her face after she was struck by a foul ball at an Astros game
June 2024
A social media user shared footage of a fan getting struck in the face by a homerun ball at a Diamondbacks game.
July 2024
A social media user shares a detailed video explaining how she broke her thumb trying to catch a foul ball at a Mets Game. She says the pain was so bad her thumb went numb and she was unable to move it at all.
A social media user shares a video at a White Sox Game after she was struck in the pelvis by a foul ball and had to ice the area.
A social media user shares a video of herself being attended to by medical staff after being hit in the head by a foul ball at a Mariners Game.
Braves manager Brian Snitker was struck in the groin by a foul ball that sailed into the team's dugout.
August 2024
A social media user shared an image of her mother lying in a hospital bed being treated for shock trauma after she was struck in the head by a foul ball at an Orioles game.
During the televised broadcast, a bat boy for the Red Sox is seen being struck in the head by a foul ball and then tended to by medical staff. "The bat boy got drilled by that foul ball," the broadcaster announced.
A social media group discussed a bat that broke and struck a Yankees home plate umpire in the head and neck. He was carted off the field.
September 2024
ESPN shares a video of a woman getting struck in the head by a foul ball at a Reds game. She was later seen icing her head.
October 2024
Royals player Michael Wacha was struck by a foul ball in the team's dugout.
April 2023
A social media user writes, “I got hit hard in the head by a foul ball at the Angels game today.” She says, “It made a loud cracking noise when the baseball hit my skull plus it was the most immediate intense pain I have ever felt.”
May 2023
Willy Adames was hospitalized after being struck in the head by a foul ball in the Brewer's team dugout.
A social media user shared footage of her hand after it was struck by a foul ball at a Yankees game.
June 2023
A social media user posted an image of her son icing his cheek and wrote, “Flew 2200 miles to spend a week in Cooperstown and get hit in the face with a foul ball at Yankees Stadium.”
A social media user writes, “Went to a Pirates game, sat down, 5 minutes later got hit by a ball. I was behind 3rd base, behind faulty netting.” She goes on to say, “This mangled brain can't handle what it used to. I have a constant headache.”
July 2023
A social media user shared that her son was struck in the face by a foul ball at a Dodger game. "It literally bounced off his face," she wrote.
A social media user shared footage of a Yankees game that was stopped for twenty minutes after a fan suffered a fractured skull due to a foul ball injury.
September 2023
A social media user shared footage of a man being escorted out of a Diamondbacks game by medical staff while applying pressure to an open wound on his head. "Guy got hit by a foul ball," the user wrote.
A social media user shares an image of her black eye after she was struck by a foul ball at a White Sox game. "Never going again," she states.
October 2023
A social media user shared that she was struck by a bat at a Cubs game.
June 2022
An Angels fan is shown being struck in the face on the televised broadcast.
September 2022
A social media user shares that both she and her boyfriend were struck by balls at a Braves game. "Ball hits me so hard in the leg that everyone thinks the sound was it hitting the chair," she writes. Later, an outfielder threw a ball into the stands that struck her boyfriend in the shoulder.
May 2021
Social media user reports that she got a black eye from a foul ball that bounced off the seats behind her and then struck her in the face at a Mariners game.
August 2021
Social media user shares footage of her 12-year old daughter attempting to catch a homerun ball (not a foul ball) at a Texas Rangers game. “It hit her hand and then her shoulder,” she writes. “She had tears in her eyes.”
September 2021
Social media user shares a picture of her ice pack and ball after getting hit in the head at a Padres game.
Resources to Learn More
Our research shows that despite pictures and videos of fan injuries garnering 1.5 million views on social media in 2025, this issue is still unresolved. Social media is not moving the needle and fans remain in grave danger and in harm’s way.
Based on this NBC report our projections show roughly 5,000 fans sustained injuries from baseballs during 2012-2019.
FBSN’s EXHIBIT A , a well-produced 5-minute ESPN video from 2019, is a powerful smoking gun demonstrating just how bad the situation remains in netting status in many ballparks across America.