NEW YORK — A cameraman was injured Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium when he was hit in the head by a wild throw from Baltimore Orioles rookie shortstop Gunnar Henderson.
Positioned right next to the New York Yankees‘ dugout on the first-base side, Pete Stendel of YES Network was struck by a hurried throw from Henderson, who fired high to first as he tried to complete a double play in the fifth inning.
The game was delayed about 17 minutes as the Yankees’ athletic training staff and medical personnel tended to Stendel in the camera well. Baltimore players came off the field and waited in their dugout as Yankees and Orioles, including Henderson, watched in obvious concern at a hushed ballpark.
Stendel was strapped onto a stretcher and carted off the field, raising and wagging two fingers to loud applause from the crowd of 36,022 as he was driven along the warning track behind home plate.
The YES Network said after the game that Stendel was conscious and undergoing tests at a local hospital.
“Definitely praying for him. It was good to see him obviously coherent and obviously raising his hand going off,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “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.”
Baltimore starter Dean Kremer was given several warmup pitches before the game resumed. Henderson was charged with an error that allowed Anthony Volpe to reach second base. Volpe scored on Kyle Higashioka‘s two-out single to give New York a 2-0 lead.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
