The 12-year-old player in the Little League World Series who fell from a bunk bed is no longer under sedation and even received a supportive video message Wednesday from his favorite Major League Baseball player, according to an Instagram account set-up to provide updates on his condition.
Easton Oliverson of Utah's Snow Canyon Little League suffered a fractured skull after falling from a bunk bed at the players' dormitory in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, early Monday morning, his team told CNN. He is being treated at Geisinger Janet Weis Children's Hospital in Danville, Pennsylvania, according to a hospital spokesperson.
Support for Easton came flooding in after news of his injury made headlines. The Brigham Young University football team and Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts submitted supportive videos through Instagram for Easton.
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"Hey Easton, it's Mookie Betts. I just want you to know that we are praying for you, thinking of you and I hope to see you soon, my man," Betts, known to be Easton's favorite player, said on video Wednesday.
An additional post Wednesday on Easton's Instagram also provided updates on the Little Leaguer.
"This morning's updates have us all in tears of joy," the post read, accompanied by a picture of Easton and a video of him eating from a spoon with eyes closed in his hospital bed.
The post also said Easton asked for water Wednesday morning, which his doctors said was good since it usually takes about a week or two before patients who have had a breathing tube removed want to eat or drink.
"While Easton is making TREMENDOUS progress, he still has a very long road ahead," the post read.
The injury happened early Monday morning, according to a statement from Little League International. St. George News reports Easton fell out of his bed in his sleep in the middle of the night, citing a source within the team.
Easton was airlifted to the local children's hospital, where he underwent surgery to stop the bleeding and stabilize him, according to his Instagram account. He was then put into a medically induced coma, his team said.
Easton's father, Jace, who is an assistant coach on his son's team, said in a statement, "There was a lot of blood in his brain and a lot of pressure being caused. He had what was called an epidural hematoma. He fractured his skull and in the meantime punctured an artery outside the brain which caused the bleeding."
The Little League World Series released a statement to CNN Wednesday saying the bunk beds at the players' dorms did not have safety rails and have since been removed from the dorms.
"Since 1992, Little League has used institutional-style bunk beds to offer the most space for the players to enjoy their time in the dorms. While these beds do not have guard rails, Little League is unaware of any serious injuries ever occurring during that period of time," the league's statement read. "Out of an abundance of caution, Little League has made the decision to remove all bunks from within the dorms and have each bed frame individually on the floor."
The league said it would use all available resources to "support the player, his family, and his coaches and teammates, as we navigate this unfortunate situation."
Easton's Snow Canyon Little League team is scheduled to play its first game of the Little League World Series Friday afternoon. Snow Canyon is the first team from Utah to make it to the series in the 75-year history of the tournament.
Cities with the oldest baseball franchises
Cities With the Oldest Baseball Franchises
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The Major League Baseball season is in full swing again. With the NFL season still months away and the NBA and NHL playoffs just concluded, the MLB dominates the summertime calendar for fans of the “Big Four” professional sports leagues.
While baseball has the summer months to itself, in recent years sports pundits have noted signs that overall interest in the game is in decline. These commentators often cite declining television ratings for national broadcasts as a signal of baseball’s receding position in American life. By this measure, baseball pales in comparison to the NFL’s ratings dominance and the NBA’s growing popularity with younger viewers.
But worries about baseball’s status as the national pastime miss the fact that baseball remains highly popular in local markets. MLB has far higher total in-person attendance than any other sports league due to its longer season, regularly drawing more than 70 million fans per year, and it remains a strong draw for regional TV broadcasts. Perhaps more importantly, baseball’s long history as the oldest professional sport in the U.S. has made MLB franchises an important part of many U.S. cities’ social and cultural life. In baseball-obsessed places like Boston or St. Louis, the local team and the town can feel nearly synonymous.
Most active teams have stayed put over the nearly 150 years of professional baseball
Professional baseball in the U.S. dates back nearly 150 years, to the founding of the National League in 1876. Many major cities in the U.S. have hosted one or more franchises for much of that span, and teams that are founded in one city have tended to stay there. Of the MLB’s 30 active teams, more than two-thirds originated in the city where they now play. And even the group of franchises that have relocated include teams with long histories in their current markets, like the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants.
16 of the 30 active MLB franchises are at least 120 years old
The deep ties between baseball franchises and the cities that host them are also a product of how long teams have been around. More than half of the MLB’s active franchises have existed for more than 120 years, whether in their current market or elsewhere, and only six teams are less than 50 years old. In total, nine U.S. cities host a franchise that is both more than a century old and has remained in the same location since its founding.
To find the cities with the oldest baseball franchises, researchers at HotDog.com ranked U.S. and Canadian cities according to the age of each location’s active professional baseball franchises. All professional baseball seasons since the founding of the National League in 1876 through 2022 were considered. In the event of a tie, the location with the franchise that has accumulated more years in its current city was ranked higher. Further ties were broken by total games played, and then all-time winning percentage. The data was sourced from baseball-reference.com.
Here are the cities with the oldest baseball franchises.
15. Oakland, CA
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- Franchise age (years): 122
- Team: Oakland Athletics
- Year established: 1901 (Philadelphia Athletics)
- Years in current city: 55
14. Minneapolis, MN
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- Franchise age (years): 122
- Team: Minnesota Twins
- Year established: 1901 (Washington Senators)
- Years in current city: 62
13. Baltimore, MD
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- Franchise age (years): 122
- Team: Baltimore Orioles
- Year established: 1901 (Milwaukee Brewers)
- Years in current city: 69
12. Boston, MA
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- Franchise age (years): 122
- Team: Boston Red Sox
- Year established: 1901 (Boston Americans)
- Years in current city: 122
11. Chicago, IL
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- Franchise age (years): 122
- Team: Chicago White Sox
- Year established: 1901 (Chicago White Sox)
- Years in current city: 122
10. Cleveland, OH
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- Franchise age (years): 122
- Team: Cleveland Guardians
- Year established: 1901 (Cleveland Blues)
- Years in current city: 122
9. Detroit, MI
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- Franchise age (years): 122
- Team: Detroit Tigers
- Year established: 1901 (Detroit Tigers)
- Years in current city: 122
8. Los Angeles, CA
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- Franchise age (years): 139
- Team: Los Angeles Dodgers
- Year established: 1884 (Brooklyn Atlantics)
- Years in current city: 65
7. San Francisco, CA
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- Franchise age (years): 140
- Team: San Francisco Giants
- Year established: 1883 (New York Gothams)
- Years in current city: 65
6. Philadelphia, PA
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- Franchise age (years): 140
- Team: Philadelphia Phillies
- Year established: 1883 (Philadelphia Quakers)
- Years in current city: 140
5. Pittsburgh, PA
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- Franchise age (years): 141
- Team: Pittsburgh Pirates
- Year established: 1882 (Pittsburgh Alleghenys)
- Years in current city: 141
4. Cincinnati, OH
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- Franchise age (years): 141
- Team: Cincinnati Reds
- Year established: 1882 (Cincinnati Red Stockings)
- Years in current city: 141
3. St. Louis, MO
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- Franchise age (years): 141
- Team: St. Louis Cardinals
- Year established: 1882 (St. Louis Brown Stockings)
- Years in current city: 141
2. Atlanta, GA
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- Franchise age (years): 147
- Team: Atlanta Braves
- Year established: 1876 (Boston Red Stockings)
- Years in current city: 57
1. Chicago, IL
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- Franchise age (years): 147
- Team: Chicago Cubs
- Year established: 1876 (Chicago White Stockings)
- Years in current city: 147
CNN's Jennifer Henderson contributed to this report.
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