Texas Rangers fan struck in the head by Willie Calhoun foul ball at Globe Life Park
A foul ball off the bat of Willie Calhoun struck an adult female fan down the right-field line in the first inning Sunday.
The fan was able to walk with help from Globe Life Park personnel up to the concourse. She was taken to an area hospital for further evaluation.
Calhoun watched with concern as the fan was tended to. A day later, before the Rangers played the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field, Calhoun admitted that the scene left him out of sorts.
“You never want to see anyone get hit,” Calhoun said. “In my head I was like, ‘What if my mom gets hit?’ I felt terrible after I did that. That kind of rattled me.”
Calhoun is an advocate for all ballpark having extended netting to protect fans from foul balls. The Rangers are planning for nets to run the length of the foul lines at Globe Life Field, which opens next season.
“As a fan, you don’t want to have to pay attention every single game,” Calhoun said. “At a baseball game, foul balls happen often. Getting hit a game sucks. And I hit that ball hard, too. When that happened I felt so bad. I took a knee until I saw that she was good.”
Calhoun said that he spoke with an usher in the section where the fan was sitting and was told that she would be going to the hospital but otherwise seem OK.
This story was originally published August 5, 2019 at 6:00 AM.
