Coming home from work on the bus Thursday there were two Cubs ushers talking to a couple fans about a kid who got hit in the head by a line drive. Then I saw this this morning:
QUOTE
7-year-old in coma after foul beaning
BY MONIFA THOMAS Staff Reporter/mjthomas@suntimes.com
Seven-year-old Dominic DiAngi couldn't wait to go to his first Cubs game Thursday. And for the first two innings, he was having a blast.
Then, a foul ball off the bat of Cubs pitcher Ted Lilly struck Dominic in the head and fractured his skull.
The Frankfort boy was taken to Children's Memorial Hospital, where he was put into a medically induced coma because he wasn't breathing properly on his own. Still, his doctors say he may go home Monday or Tuesday, after the swelling in his brain has gone down, Dominic's father, Peter DiAngi, said.
Dominic was sitting with his father and older brother in a lower-level seat off third base. Peter DiAngi had been sitting in Dominic's seat, but the two switched places shortly before the boy was struck.
"The ball was coming right at him, and I thought it was going to go over his head, but apparently he might have stood up at the wrong time," Peter DiAngi said. "As soon as it happened, I just turned around and said, 'Oh, my God,' and scooped him up."
DiAngi tried to administer CPR to his unconscious son while running with him to the concourse, where he was helped by Cubs staff and paramedics. Dominic's breathing was thready and his eyes had rolled back in his head, DiAngi said.
"I was panicking because I just knew that this was not a good sign," he said. "I thought somehow it had been my fault."
Now, Peter DiAngi and his wife are waiting to see what, if any, long-term effects the head injury will have on Dominic.
"This is a kid who just lives, eats and breathes baseball," Peter DiAngi said. "He just wanted to make sure he got to his first big league game. It was supposed to be a great day for him."
Cubs spokesman Peter Chase wished Dominic "a speedy recovery" and said: "We look forward to welcoming him back to Wrigley Field as soon as he is ready."
Lilly was concerned after Thursday's game when told by reporters that a child had been injured. "Did it hit a kid -- that foul ball? Oh. I didn't even notice that. I wasn't sure where it was," Lilly said. "Hopefully, he's OK."
Lilly couldn't be reached for comment Friday, but a team spokesman said the pitcher asked for a phone number for the boy and his family and planned to get in touch.
Dominic did end up getting a keepsake from the game: the ball that hit him. A man sitting a few rows behind Dominic found the ball and offered it to his father.
"Dominic won't let go of the ball," his dad said. "He's holding on to that ball right now."
It's at least the second time in two months that a child has been struck in the head by an errant ball at a Chicago baseball game.
On June 4, 9-year-old Griffin Cox of Glen Ellyn was hit by a batting practice line drive at a White Sox game. He, too, suffered skull fractures and is recovering.
Contributing: Toni Ginnetti and Gordon Wittenmyer
Youch. Get well soon, kid.
