Though the Florida Marlins had an indisputably good night on Tuesday, Marlins fan Karen Wellmeyer did not.

 

In the top of the fifth inning, Arizona Diamondback Shawn Green's bat flew into the stands and smacked Wellmeyer in the side. She was sent to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami with a ruptured spleen, her husband, John, said Wednesday.

 

The Wellmeyers, who live in Boca Raton, had prime tickets from a friend, behind the first-base dugout.

 

"I saw the bat crack and saw it was coming toward us," John Wellmeyer said. " ... When I looked toward my wife, I saw it going toward her. I was frozen. It was incredible how fast it got to her." She had unsuccessfully turned to get out of the way.

 

A nurse behind them helped Wellmeyer, 37, as did stadium ushers. Paramedics arrived and took her to the hospital. She had internal bleeding and fell in and out of consciousness, her husband said. Wednesday night, she was listed in serious but stable condition in the trauma intensive care unit.

 

Marlins management was unavailable for comment Wednesday, despite attempts by phone.

 

"I don't think she'll want to go [to games] in the future," said John Wellmeyer, 33.

 

:o

 

I was sitting one section to the left of where this happened, I saw the bat fly in the stands but didn't realize anyone actually got hurt and didn't see the paramedics or anything. Holy s***. I hope she's doing ok and will have a full recovery.

Wow! I hope she's okay. :blink:

wow i was sitting that same section just 17 rows behind..

 

everyone was standing up checking to see if the person was alright.. i saw the paramedics go check the person out, but then I looked up to watch the game, next thing i know i focus my attention to see what the medics where up to, but they were gone.. so i figured the person was alright

 

hope she is alright

shyte bullets

wow that sucks...

It's one reason I really don't like sitting directly behind the dugouts. You really have to keep on your toes the entire game. I hope she recovers well.

What a freak accident. Hope she pulls through.

I saw it happen (was on the third base side) and could tell that she was pretty hurt. She looked like she was in real pain. Josh came out of the dugout and stood there for a long while to see if she was okay... he ended up giving them a ball. I hope she ends up being alright... she seemed really hurt. Poor woman.

i sat two rows directly behind her and saw the whole thing happen. she pulled up her shirt and it was black and blue right away. right next her was her 5 or 6 year old son so lucky it didn't hit him as it would have hit his head. while she waited til the paramedics got ther she didn't look like was in bad shape she sat there waiting and just rubbing her self.

 

i'll tell you it happened so quick that she had no chance. At first i thought she was okay because it took the paramedics like 10-15 minutes to get there. But once they got there they carried her out.

Accord, how did you not see that she was hurt?

 

Two paramedics had to carry her up the stairs, she clearly was unable to stand...I'm amazed it wasn't made into a bigger deal than it is.

Accord, how did you not see that she was hurt?

 

Two paramedics had to carry her up the stairs, she clearly was unable to stand...I'm amazed it wasn't made into a bigger deal than it is.

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Because I wasn't sitting in that section and unless you were standing up, it was next to impossible to see what was going on. I never saw the paramedics come and I never looked back over there after play resumed because I didn't realize how bad it was.

It's one reason I really don't like sitting directly behind the dugouts. You really have to keep on your toes the entire game. I hope she recovers well.

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This was a freak accident, nothing you can do. I've been sitting directly behind the Marlins dugout for YEARS and have never had a hard line drive ball or bat come anywhere even remotely close to me... hell a regular foul ball hasn't even come close to me at all since last season!

I hope everything is ok

im sure she'll never be at DS again. Im interested in the service that she got beacuse i was at a game last year when we played the rockies and was watching BP and Todd helton hit a BOMB a hard liner a good 20 rows up into Right field and it hit a lady who wasnt paying attention right in the arm her arm became Purple and she was in serious pain the ushers did nothing someone ran and got ice. The Parameds got to her in about the 1st inning and took her up to the deck she returned with ice and a brace. the first inning was id say approximently an hour and a half from the incident.

 

How long did it take the Medics to get there last night?

I was sitting in the section to the left of it.. row 15. I remember her being carried up the stairs.. she didnt look good at all. I hope she has a speedy recovery!

All the best to her.

I'm sure Shawn Greene will give her a nice token to make up for it, although she may not be all that interested after what happened.

Shawn was shown on the news this morning (CBS 4) and he sent his best wishes, he apologized, and he said that he'll send something if anything.

With the thin-handled bats that everybody's using, it seems there are an awful lot of broken bat pieces flying around. Most of them fly around the field, of course. But there are a LOT of broken bats these days, and some cause injuries. Thankfully, most have been minor, but it's a danger that the game doesn't need.

 

Bill James has advocated a minimum diameter for bat handles, and I'm starting to think it's a very good idea. With all that's going on in the game, I guess a proliferation of broken bats isn't going to keep Bud Selig awake at night. But It seems like an easy fix. The batters don't get much of an edge from the thin handles, it wouldn't hurt to use a 1" bat instead of a 3/4" bat.