NEW YORK — Baltimore shortstop Gunnar Henderson and New York manager Aaron Boone spoke Thursday with Pete Stendel, the YES Network cameraman who suffered an orbital fracture when he was hit by Henderson’s errant pitch Wednesday at the night
“I had a chance to reach out to his wife and then I reached out to Pete as well,” Henderson said before the finale of a four-game series between the Orioles and Yankees. “He was in a good mood, now he’s swollen up pretty bad. Everything was going well.”
Standing just outside the New York Yankees dugout next to first base, Stendel was hit by a rushing pitch from Henderson, who fired high at first while trying to complete a double play in the fifth inning.
“Any time a ball goes past first base or even a foul ball by the batter, you don’t want to see it go to a fan. It just happened that he was in the wrong place, and I hope he’s OK,” Henderson said Wednesday night after his team’s 6-3 win. “My prayers go out to him. I’m just thankful for the guys who rushed over there to help him.”
The game was delayed about 17 minutes as Stendel was treated well on camera by the Yankees’ training staff and medical staff. Baltimore players walked off the field and waited in their dugout as the Yankees and Orioles, including Henderson, watched with obvious concern from a silent stadium.
“Obviously he’s got the orbital fracture and the swelling and that pressure and I’m sure there’s a bit of pain around that, but I will say he sounded great, in good spirits and hopefully he’s on the road to recovery now ” Boone said. “I’m happy that I can be at home resting. Obviously, a very scary situation. I know I saw it in real time and it freaked me out a little.
Stendel was strapped to a stretcher and carried off the field, raising and wagging two fingers to loud cheers from the crowd of 36,022 as he was driven down the warning track behind home plate.
“Last night was incredibly scary and hard to watch — the silence of the crowd for a while said it all,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “So good he’s doing so much better. It’s nice that ‘Boonie’ and Gunnar reached out to him. I hope he has a speedy recovery.”
Henderson, who said he was still shaken up after Wednesday night’s game, said he felt comfortable after his conversation with Stendel Thursday and was grateful to hear Boone had reached out to Stendel as well.
“I’m glad everything was OK,” Henderson said. “He came over and said, ‘Don’t let it affect you in any way. Things happen.’
“Everyone is reaching out to him – it was great to hear he had a support group behind him. I’m glad so many people have reached out to him.”
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