Terrifying moment Mookie Betts smashes a ball into an 8-year-old boy’s eye during Dodgers home game

An 8-year-old Los Angeles Dodgers fan is recovering and in good condition after taking a foul ball in the eye from the bat of All-Star slugger Mookie Betts.

The frightening scene unfolded during the fourth inning of Friday’s game against the visiting Cincinnati Reds. Halfway up the stands at Dodger Stadium, on the first base side, sat the Sanchez family and their son Nathan, who brought his glove to the game in hopes of catching a foul ball.

Unfortunately, this projectile was simply too fast for Nathan.

“As soon as the ball hits him, all I hear is, ‘My eye!’” Daisy Sanchez, young Nathan’s mother, said KTL.

Luckily for Nathan, there was a doctor nearby who quickly attended to the young Dodgers fan until the stadium medical staff arrived. Best of all, Nathan was soon cleared to return to the game, which his Dodgers won 7-3 thanks to leadoff homer by Betts.

Nathan Sánchez later received the ball from a fan sitting nearby on Friday

Los Angeles Dodgers’ Mookie Betts reacts after a foul ball during the sixth inning on Friday

As seen in the KTLA footage, Nathan’s eye is bruised, but he suffered no significant injuries.

“There are so many things going through your mind,” Nathan’s father, Samuel Sanchez, told KTLA. “He was walking up the stairs when the medics came to check on him.”

Luckily for Nathan, a nearby fan collected the foul ball and gave it to the 8-year-old upon his return.

Now the family would like to see the memento signed.

“We just want our ball signed, the ball that hit him,” the family told KTLA. “At least an autograph, you know?”

Sánchez received some stickers and a button after being hit, but hopes to get an autograph

The family received some stickers and a button from the team, but they hoped to see more in the way of communicating about the incident. The Dodgers have not commented publicly.

In 2019, there was a Major League mandate for teams to expand protective netting between the stands and the playing field.

Before that change in 2019, NBC News found 808 reports of fan injuries from foul balls over the past seven years — and that study was missing data from 26 ballparks.

Getting Betts signed shouldn’t be too difficult as he has a reputation for being friendly towards fans.

In 2021, Betts surprised a spectator, Michael Diddle, in Cincinnati with an autographed bat after the fan was nice enough to return a home run ball hit by a Reds rookie.

Cincinnati’s TJ Friedl homered for his first Major League hit in September 2021.

When Betts realized the significance of the moment, he called on Diddle to throw it back into the outfield so it could be returned to Friedl as a memento.

Betts is seen giving Diddle an autographed bat for rookie TJ Friedl’s first home run ball

The Athletic’s C. Trent Rosencrans confirmed that Diddle’s new bat was indeed signed

Betts was secretly recorded in 2018 while feeding homeless people in downtown Boston

Diddle obliged and was rewarded the next inning when Betts returned to right field with a signed bat to give to the man.

“It’s unbelievable,” Friedl said afterwards. ‘For [Betts] to do something like that, it’s absolutely just world class from him. I want to go there [to the Dodgers clubhouse] and just say ‘thank you’ in person.”

Betts, a two-time World Series winner and named American League MVP with the Boston Red Sox in 2018, has built a reputation for kindness during his eight Major League seasons.

For example, after Betts defeated the Dodgers in Game 2 of the 2018 World Series, he was secretly recorded giving food to homeless people gathered around the Boston Public Library.

In 2015, we saw him and his then-teammate Blake Swihart also give pizza to a homeless man in New York.