‘B’ Warned! Fan Struck By Falling Letter After Foul Ball Dislodges It From Sign
Posted September 7, 2010 8:45 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Turns out balls and bats aren’t the only projectiles that might fly into the stands at the Rogers Centre.
Fans at Monday’s Toronto Blue Jays game also needed to be on the lookout for falling letters.
A middle-aged man escaped serious injury when he was struck by a metre-long metal ‘B’ that was dislodged from the stadium facing by a Jose Bautista foul ball off Texas Rangers pitcher Tommy Hunter.
The white letter, part of the nameplate honouring Jackie Robinson on 400 level, dropped about 10 metres to the 200 level where a fan who identified himself only as Ian was struck in the right shoulder.
He suffered a scrape, and was treated by paramedics.
“I was very surprised because I didn’t expect a ‘B’ to fall on me,” said the man, who added that he was a season-ticket holder from Toronto watching the game with his son.
After he was struck, the letter bounced down the aisle and was corralled by fan Bruno Derose in the front row. He held it up for the whole stadium to see, garnering a loud ovation from the crowd of 17,559.
The ‘B’ was eventually taken back by venue staff, to loud boos from the fans in the area.
“They should have at least given me a couple of tickets or a ball,” said Derose, 45 of suburban Woodbridge, who was at the game with his daughter. “I couldn’t believe it happened.
“It was a hell of a catch.”
Bautista’s foul ball also left the ‘I’ in Robinson hanging loose.
A team spokesman said he wasn’t sure if anything was given to the fans, although the man who was struck by the ‘B’ later returned to his seat.
