Baseball mascot shoots hot dog at woman's face at Philadelphia Phillies game

'It just came so fast,' Kathy McVay said after being struck by a hot dog wrapped in duct tape.

Chris Riotta
New York
Thursday 21 June 2018 19:45 BST
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Kathy McVay (pictured) suffered a bruise after being struck by a flying hot dog at the Philadelphia Phillies game on Monday night (WSPA 7 News/Youtube)
Kathy McVay (pictured) suffered a bruise after being struck by a flying hot dog at the Philadelphia Phillies game on Monday night (WSPA 7 News/Youtube)

Hot dogs have been launched into the crowd at Philadelphia Phillies baseball games for years, but a fan has found out the damage one can do if it is not caught.

Kathy McVay's was at the Philadelphia Phillies' game in Citizens Bank Park, when the team mascot - the Phillie Phanatic - began his usually-jubilant ceremony of launching frankfurters at unsuspecting crowd members. Ms McVay, who was seated just behind home plate, told local news outlets she was suffering from a shoulder injury which prevented her from swatting the hot food wrapped in duct tape away from her after the mascot shot it towards her face.

“It just came out of nowhere. And hard,” Ms McVay said of the hot dog, which was wrapped in duct tape to stop it falling apart in the air.

“I think it just came so fast,” she told CBS. “It just hit me like that and I didn't even realise it. The hot dog bounced off my face and into the other seat.”

Ms McVay left the game and visited a nearby hospital, where she was told she had suffered a small haematoma. But she is being a good sport about the incident, adding, “If it gives people a good laugh and if that makes somebody chuckle, then that’s fine.”

The Phillies, who were playing St. Louis Cardinal on the night of the incident on Monday, apologised to Ms McVay for the experience and offered her tickets to see any of their upcoming games.

A spokesperson for the Phillies told The Independent the team doesn’t have any plans to stop using its hot dog launcher, while expressing regret for the fan who was shot in the face.

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