CHICAGO — A man was carted off Wrigley Field and hospitalized after he slipped and fell while attempting to jump from the bleachers before a game between the Atlanta Braves and Chicago Cubs on Thursday night.
The Cubs, who didn’t identify the man, said in a statement the fan "was injured after attempting to jump onto the field." They didn’t provide his condition.
The man, dressed in shorts and sneakers, was face down just in front of the ivy in right-centre field when officials started running from the dugouts to assist him. They immediately checked his pulse while a medic ran in from right field.
It took three people to turn the man over onto his back. They then pulled up his shirt and put on a brace to stabilize his neck before strapping him onto a backboard and loading him into a cart.
Cubs outfielder Albert Almora Jr. and pitching coach Chris Bosio also went out to the outfield to check on the man.
The man was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center.
"We will remain in contact with the fan’s family to stay updated on his progress," the team said.
There was a visible dip in the yellow fencing at the top of the 11 1/2-foot wall above where the man was treated. The Wrigley Field bleachers are known for for their party-like atmosphere and sometimes rowdy behaviour.
The fan was hurt just after 7 p.m., about the scheduled start time, but the tarp was on the field because of earlier heavy rain. The game later began after a delay of 1 hour, 35 minutes.
The incident occurred five years to the night after firefighter Shannon Stone died after falling out of the stands during a Texas Rangers home game. The man, reaching out to get a foul ball tossed into the stands, fell onto concrete behind the left-field wall.
Last August, Gregory Murrey died after falling from the upper deck to the lower-level seating area during a Braves game at Turner Field in Atlanta.
