A Phillies fan was injured on Monday night at Citizens Bank Park after the Phillie Phanatic hit her in the face with a hot dog shot out of a cannon. Kathy McVay of Plymouth Meeting, PA told her story to ABC 6 News, and honestly it sounds harrowing.
McVay was in the stands at the Phillies game, and when the Phanatic started firing hot dogs into the stands with the launcher it uses, she was hit in the face with a pork-based projectile. Since the hot dogs are duct taped to make sure they fly properly without the hot dog coming apart, it was a much harder impact than just a hotdog and a bun would be.
According to the reports, even if she saw it coming and would have normally been able to react in time she couldn’t in this situation because of a recent shoulder surgery. She said of the experience,
“It just came out of nowhere. And hard ... And then the next thing I know he shot it in our direction, and bam! It hit me like a ton of bricks. My glasses flew.”
In the best possible situation you don’t want a hot dog flying at you out of nowhere. Nonetheless one that’s duct taped and shot out of a cannon.
Thankfully, McVay wasn’t seriously injured — she didn’t have a concussion but has some bruises and an eye hematoma that will take some time to heal. The Phillies have already apologized and invited her back to a game for free when she’s ready to return.
It sounds like she’s not holding any grudges against the Phanatic or the team, saying, “It gives people a good laugh, and if that makes somebody chuckle, then that’s fine.”
Regardless of her reaction, the Phanatic might have to hang up its hot dog cannon for good after this incident. The extended foul territory netting is doing a great job protecting fans from unexpected baseballs, but there’s no netting specifically meant to block hot dogs.