Aaron Boone is "praying" for New York Yankees cameraman Pete Stendel after he was hospitalised on Wednesday night.
Stendel was working at Yankee Stadium as normal when he was struck in the face by a baseball thrown by Baltimore Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson. During the fifth inning Henderson hurried to try and get Anthony Volpe out at first base, but the throw was high and instead headed for the crowd.
It hit an un-expecting Stendel hard in the face, and the game was paused while the cameraman received treatment. Stendel was conscious and talking, but was taken to hospital for further checks after being removed from the field by medics.
Yankees head coach Boone addressed the incident after the game, and said. "Definitely praying for him. It was good to see him, obviously, coherent and obviously raising his hand going off."
Stendel waved to the crowd as his night took an unexpected turn, with hospital checks seemingly nothing more than a general evaluation. The cameraman also received an ovation from the crowd as he exited the field, before play resumed.
It was a wild fifth inning for many reasons, firstly with Stendel's injury but it also sparked the Yankees into life. The Yankees scored the first two runs of the game in the fifth, but quickly fell behind.
The Orioles then hit back with four runs in the sixth, and went on to win the game 6-3. Earlier in the day Yankees pitcher Jimmy Cordero was suspended for the remainder of the 2023 season by MLB, after violating their domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy.
MLB commissioner Robert D. Manfred, Jr. announced on Wednesday that Cordero would be suspended following an investigation, with the Yankees also supporting their process. After speaking about Stendel, Boone was asked about the news on Wednesday night in his press conference.
"Yeah I found about the suspension last night, he came to me a couple of days ago and gave me a heads up about an investigation going on," Boone said. "That's the extent of it.
"You get that news and it's sad, your heart goes out to everyone involved. I don't have any details, don't know what went down, which is part of the idea of the investigation. That's why the policy is in place, it's meant to work that way.
"My biggest thing right now is feeling for the situation, hoping and praying that something good comes out of this. That there's maturity, growth and healing with what's going on. This is real life and a much more serious situation."
Cordero's suspension will see him miss out on $340,648 in outstanding salary. Cordero will reportedly be replaced on the Yankees roster by Randy Vasquez.
