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Come Fan with UsSunday, June 21, 2026

Fan Dies Of Cardiac Arrest At Blue Jays Game

Baseball is supposed to be fun, but a sobering reminder of real life interrupted Thursday’s game in Toronto.

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Presswire

Baseball is a game, presumably enjoyable for the players being paid millions to play it as well as fans who attend games for entertainment.

It was a sobering reminder, then, of the ups and downs of real life when Thursday's game between the Toronto Blue Jays and Chicago White Sox at Rogers Centre in Toronto was interrupted because a fan went into cardiac arrest in the stands down the third-base line. Paul Attfield of the Toronto Globe and Mail:

"It was not a good sight. It was bad," said Chicago third baseman Kevin Youkilis. "I could see the guy pumping on him, doing something where I just knew it was happening too long. I said something to [third-base umpire] Mark [Wegner] and finally I was like 'We've got to stop this thing.'"

The game was halted for approximately four or five minutes while the man, who appeared to be middle-aged, was lifted onto a cart and taken from the Rogers Centre field and on to hospital. The incident – the second at Rogers Centre this summer following another cardiac arrest on June 29 - certainly left an indelible mark on the players Thursday night.

According to the Globe and Mail, the fan later died at a hospital. The White Sox defeated the Blue Jays 7-2, but it’s unlikely any of the players will forget what they saw off the field Thursday night.

For more on the Blue Jays, please visit Bluebird Banter.

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