In one of the most unlikely and bizarre incidents in baseball history, Richie Ashburn, a Hall of Fame center fielder for the Philadelphia Phillies, managed to hit the same fan with foul balls not once but twice during a single game in 1957. The unfortunate fan, Alice Roth, was seated in the stands at Connie Mack Stadium when first struck by a foul ball off Ashburn's bat, resulting in a broken nose. In an incredible twist of fate, as she was being carried away on a stretcher, Ashburn foul-tipped another pitch that also found its way to Roth, hitting her a second time. Although the second impact caused only minor bruising, the odds of such an event were astronomically low.
This peculiar event surprisingly led to a friendship between Ashburn and Roth, who was the sports editor's wife for a local Philadelphia newspaper. Roth and her family became regulars at the Phillies games, and Ashburn even maintained correspondence with them for years following the incident. The story has become one of the enduring anecdotes within the folklore of baseball, illustrating both the random unpredictability of the sport and the connections formed among those who play, report on, and watch it. The Phillies organization later took additional safety measures, and Major League Baseball continues to improve fan safety in response to foul ball incidents, ensuring that fans enjoy the game with reduced risk of injury.
