As Major League Baseball (MLB) presently lies dormant, its legendary tales tend to resurface, including one with a Montgomery County connection. Hunter Doyle revived the fantastic saga and its focus, fan Alice Roth, in Phillies Nation.

Roth is a statistical wonder: She is one of a very small number of MLB game attendees struck by a foul ball twice in the same game by the same batter.

The 1957 incident took place at a Phillies game at Connie Mack Stadium.

Roth and her grandsons sat along the third base line. Left-handed Richie Ashburn fouled a shot that smacked Roth right in the nose.

Stadium staff responded immediately, put her on a stretcher, and were removing her when the unthinkable happened: Play resumed, the pitcher threw, Ashburn swung, and he hit her again, this time bruising her knee.

She landed at Norristown’s Montgomery Hospital for a full recovery.

Ashburn himself came to visit her repeatedly during her stay.

Roth and her family were invited back for the royal treatment at another game. And Ashburn became a long-term friend, remembering her with birthday and Christmas cards until her death in the mid-1980s.

Reportedly, one of her grandsons — clearly more into football than baseball — asked her, “Grandma, do you think you could go to an Eagles game and get hit in the face with a football?”

More detail on Alice Roth and her memorable 1957 day at Connie Mack Stadium is at Phillies Nation.

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This mini-bio of Richie Ashburn fills in some of the details of his career as with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Editor’s Note: This post about Richie Ashburn and Alice Roth first appeared on MONTCO Today in December 2022.