Everything Orioles fans need to know about unlucky Jesus Sanchez-Blue Jays situation

The Sunday series final between the Baltimore Orioles and the Toronto Blue Jays featured a unique and unfortunate moment. In the bottom of the 6th innings, with the Orioles leading 6-0, Blue Jays outfielder Jesus Sanchez was struck in the wrist by a baseball thrown at him from the stands during a mound visit as the Jays tried to pitch their way out of a two-on-no-outs jam.  

Players getting hit by objects thrown at them from the stands is always a bad thing, and per the Orioles policy, the fan was ejected from the game immediately. Before much information was out there and the intent of the fan who threw the ball at Sanchez was unknown, there was a lot of aggressive discussion about what the penalty for the incident should be, with some people suggesting that charges be pressed.

The interaction between Jesus Sanchez and a young fan was an unfortunate accident

However, as more reporting, including video, emerged, it became clear that this was not an act of malice intended to injure, but instead an unfortunate misunderstanding between Sanchez and a young fan in the stands.

The Baltimore Sun's Jacob Calvin Meyer quickly got on the scene and spoke with several fans in the section who described the whole thing as an accident where Sanchez had been flapping his glove in the direction of a young fan with the ball, and the young man took that as an invitation to play catch and threw a laser right as Sanchez turned back towards the field of play. Catching him in the wrist and knocking him out of the game.

Sportsnet posted an angle of throw that was captured at very low resolution on Twitter, which can be seen here.

In the video, you can see Sanchez facing the crowd, and although the video is grainy, it appears that he is opening and closing his glove. That sort of glove chomping motion is kind of the international signal for "throw it here," so even though it's unheard of for a player to play catch with a fan mid-inning, it's easy to see how a young person could get confused.

To the Blue Jays, Sanchez and manager John Schneiders credit they all handled the situation very well. Nobody accused the young fan of trying to hurt Sanchez or demanded they be banned or punished. Across the board, the word used to describe the whole thing was a "misunderstanding".

Sanchez's injury was diagnosed as a wrist bruise, and X-Rays came back negative. Hopefully, he doesn't have to miss any more time outside of the handful of innings that were left in Sunday's game.

On the side, the Orioles did not issue any sort of ban from Camden Yards to the fan who threw the ball. Hopefully, they can return and enjoy Orioles baseball again soon, now with firsthand knowledge that even if it looks like a player wants to play catch, just don't.

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