This Is What a Foul Ball Does to Your Face
Only in the delusional mind of a sports fan would a broken nose be an acceptable price to pay for a souvenir baseball. First touched by a man paid to throw it and then hit by a man paid to hit it, any ball that enters the stands has a mystical energy not present in the millions of identical balls for sale at sporting goods stores. And so we chase baseballs, both home-run and foul, with little regard for our physical well-being. A deep thigh bruise, a broken bone, a sprained thumb—these are temporary. Catching a foul ball, or even better, a home-run, is forever.
Earlier this week, Bloomberg attempted to quantify the danger inherent in baseball’s souvenir distribution system, and it wasn’t pretty. Balls that enter the stands injure more than 1,750 people each season. As Bloomberg says, that’s “at least twice every three games.” To get that number, they analyzed in-house statistics kept by several MLB teams and extrapolated those figures to the league as a whole. What Bloomberg did not do, however, is show us what those devastating face-beanings look like. That’s what Vocativ is here for. We scoured social media for photo documentation of what happens when fans go to great lengths to take home a souvenir that costs a few bucks at Sports Authority.
But before we begin, here are two quick clips to remind you of what foul terror really looks like:
And here’s what you get to take home with you:
Face Shots
@kari_lockwood RT lovely shiner friend received at @Reds game from foul ball! pic.twitter.com/CjzXtT911Y Ouch. Reminder fans keep your head up!
— IdealSeat (@IdealSeatMLB) May 29, 2013
Foul ball to the face selfie. Possibly ruined my Isbell t-shirt, at least @ChattLookouts gave me a shirt. #lookouts pic.twitter.com/ClEKNWITR5 — Mindy Shadrick (@Mindy_Shadrick) May 15, 2014
.@sarbear_x0: Took @dom9brown ‘s foul ball to the face today. No biggie. pic.twitter.com/RUa9scxzFP OUCH! @phillies need to get it signed for u!
— FoulBallz® (@FoulBallzMLB) June 1, 2014
Black eye at Turner Field. Let’s go @Braves. pic.twitter.com/U1jDdTkEyn — Zack Hample (@zack_hample) July 31, 2013
@NotJackKemp @corbydavidson did you see the girl who took the Kinsler foul ball to the head? #Ouch pic.twitter.com/0o2TiHeUh9 — Steve Jordan (@StevenDJordan) August 27, 2013
4-year-old Noah Stotler is recovering after he was hit by a foul ball during Saturday night’s Suns game.@FCN2go pic.twitter.com/LwygBM97Gd — Lisa Robbins (@LisaRobbinsFCN) July 10, 2014
Took a foul ball of my face at the Mallards game. #DuckBlind pic.twitter.com/KnqSdLSVEX — Sean Engelhart (@ENGE7HART) July 28, 2013
Foul ball leaves girl with fractures to skull, nose. Parents demand safety changes to ballpark https://t.co/JSAdgkoUAe pic.twitter.com/ByKtXpFymc
— Action News on 6abc (@6abc) August 29, 2014
Hit by foul ball that bounced off dugout wall @LowellSpinners. Watched it come, too fast to react. OK now. #selfie pic.twitter.com/GyRMetJEsV — Julia Malakie (@JuliaMalakie) August 31, 2014
Got hit in the face with a foul ball at a Cubs game #AndIOnlyCriedForTwentyMinutes pic.twitter.com/KWWwXRrL — Patrick Wille (@pwille2) July 15, 2012
Only my brother would get hit in the face by a home run ball pic.twitter.com/WRZZypjQ36 — Amber Rodriguez (@aamberrr_3) August 13, 2014
My mom got hit in the face by a foul ball and we didn’t even get the ball, help us out @Dbacks #goDbacks pic.twitter.com/0xwhk3K8rS — Benito Arellanes (@benito_are) July 23, 2014
A kid took a foul ball to the head at a minor league game. Jeez, look at her forehead (via @Reddit) pic.twitter.com/3cwHcFkdFb — bairet (@bairet) July 5, 2013
Body Blows
Here’s the bruise on Dodger @DavidSuarez‘s arm following a missed foul ball that @Rywill940 was talking about. pic.twitter.com/tYZKTSlBBB
— 940ESPN (@940ESPN) April 15, 2014
Tried to catch a foul ball at the Jays game on Sunday.. Caught a bruise to the leg instead! @blawrie13 pic.twitter.com/CXnOEPsofA — Sherrie (@imintheDSM) September 3, 2013
I got pegged by a foul ball yesterday while sitting near home plate in second row. Yes it hurt like hell. #RRExpress pic.twitter.com/FmcmBhFruC — robert salazar (@Igoape) July 12, 2014
My Carlos Santana foul ball souvenir, ladies and gentlemen. @SportsCenter @CodyRussell @js3tt8 #ouch pic.twitter.com/jN01EsKbk5 — Susan Baker (@Im_TheLibrarian) June 22, 2013
Fingers, Hands and Toes
@TSNProducerTim not much broke my toe at the jays game tho, well worth it tho got the foul ball pic.twitter.com/1txm7tb7SK — Jon Smithson (@jonsmitty4) May 3, 2013
The result of catching a Giancarlo Stanton Home Run During the HR Derbypic.twitter.com/CIlE12mR7a — The Baseball Life™ (@BasebalIisLife) July 23, 2014
Think I broke my hand getting this foul ball #pic.twitter.com/t4MLZsHloN — Vincenzo Carbone (@VincenzoFelice2) August 24, 2014
Buddy busted his finger trying to catch foul ball at Jays game! pic.twitter.com/LbXHQz7bak — Trevor Marshall (@marshallt75) June 8, 2013
Guess what kind of an idiot breaks his finger trying to catch a foul ball………this kind.. pic.twitter.com/gUaycPCxPM — SNAP (@SnapInHTown) July 11, 2013