A YES Network camera operator was injured when he was struck in the head by an errant throw from Baltimore shortstop Gunnar Henderson during the Orioles’ road game against the New York Yankees on Wednesday.
Pete Stendel was conscious and being examined at a hospital, YES Network announced postgame.
With the Yankees leading 1-0, rookie Anthony Volpe hit a ground ball to second baseman Adam Frazier. After Frazier threw to second for the forceout, Henderson made an errant throw to first baseman Ryan O’Hearn that hit Stendel and knocked him out.
The game was delayed for a little over 15 minutes as medical personnel quickly emerged from the third base side to attend to Stendel, who was positioned adjacent to New York’s dugout.
Both teams came off the field while Stendel received medical attention. After a few minutes, YES network announcers Michael Kay and Paul O’Neill said Stendel was conscious, and a few minutes later, Stendel was taken away on a medical cart.
After the Orioles won the game 6-3, Henderson said of the wild throw, “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. My prayers go out to him. I’m just thankful for the guys that rushed over there to him to help him.”
Asked if the incident had shaken him up, Henderson said, “I’m doing pretty fine. Yeah, it sucks that happened to him, but it’s just trying to play the game hard. Sometimes that happens.”
Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde added, “Hope that that cameraman in the camera well there was OK. That was a scary moment. He gave the peace sign coming off the field, but that was tough to watch and hopefully he’s OK.”
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said, “Definitely praying for him. It was good to see him obviously coherent and obviously raising his hand going off.
“But I saw it pretty well right away, and it was very scary. I didn’t see how he fell back, but I knew what could’ve been possible falling back, on top of the impact from the velocity of the ball hitting him. … Obviously a difficult scene there, and just hoping he’s OK.”