Kaiser Carlile, batboy for the Liberal Bee Jays, died on Sunday, a day after he was struck on the head by a warm-up swing during a match.
By Joanna Chadwick/The Wichita Eagle
Following the death of Kaiser Carlile, the Liberal Bee Jays’ 9-year-old bat boy, the National Baseball Congress will not have bat boys or ball boys during the remainder of World Series games at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium.
“It’s out of respect for the Bee Jays,” said Kevin Jenks, the NBC’s general manager. “... It’s too emotionally charged. We’re going to remove it from the World Series.”
Kaiser died on Sunday after he was struck in the head with a follow-through swing near the on-deck circle on Saturday afternoon during the Bee Jays’ game. Kaiser, who is from Liberal, Kan., was wearing a helmet.
Bat boys retrieve bats from the home-plate area and return them to the dugout. Ball boys chase foul balls that stay in the field of play and also take more baseballs to the home-plate umpire. Parents sometimes contact the NBC to have their children participate as a bat boy or ball boy, and Jenks said that it’s a volunteer position that is filled early in the process for all 60 games.
“We’re also responsible for the safety of these kids,” Jenks said. “At this point, safety is No. 1. It’s unfortunate that it takes a situation like this to implement that.”
As for future World Series, Jenks is unsure. “We need to look at it and have some conversations and see what is best,” he said. “Our age limit is 10 years old. ... We’ll talk about it; we may need to raise the age limit.” At 9, Kaiser was able to be on the field because he was Liberal’s bat boy all summer.
The NBC is planning to honor Kaiser at Monday’s games and on Tuesday, when the Bee Jays play again. As of 11:30 a.m., Jenks was unsure as to how Kaiser would be honored.
The Hutchinson Monarchs helped raise money for the Carlile family by walking through Lawrence-Dumont Stadium and asking for donations.
A GoFundMe page has been established _ BigHits4Kaiser _ at gofundme.com/4m6pwmm88g. As of 11:45 a.m. Monday, $23,120 had been raised to help Kaiser’s family.
The city of Wichita has not decided whether it will conduct an investigation into the death. Lawrence-Dumont Stadium is owned by the city.
Ken Evans, the city’s strategic communications director, said it is too early to decide on the need for an inquiry.
“I think we’re all kind of in shock at the moment with the rest of the community and focused on expressing our heartfelt sympathies for all the family and the friends and the folks involved with the tournament,” Evans said.
“... I just don’t think anyone is focused on that at the moment. It’s difficult for me to say anything about it, other than, it seems premature for us.”
