Sit in the bleachers or the third deck and pay attention to the game and your children, not your cell phone, and the likelihood of getting hurt by a ball is pretty much zero.
If you want to sit behind the dugout, leave your kids at home.
This story really is not about baseball. It is about our society's greater and greater proclivity toward unrealistic expectations and lack of proportion when it comes to risk assesment. If M.L.B. the Times, the authors, and everyone else really want to protect people, especially innocent children, they should take the energy spent on making baseball immune from reality and, instead, advocate for more taxes to pay for more cops to enforce traffic laws. Around, 40,000 are killed each year by largely preventable crashes, including a couple thousand innocent children. You are a lot safer at a ball game where the drunks and TEXTers aren't wielding a ton of high-speed lethality.
I wonder how many commenting have actually been to an MLB game. Even more I wonder how many readers who worry about being hit by a foul ball (or home run, for that matter) go to a game, have a couple beers, and then drive home.
58
Your kid and you are much more likely to get hurt on the way to or from the game by a drunk or TEXTing driver than by a ball hit at the game. At least the drunks and TEXTers at the game aren't wielding a ton of high-speed lethality.
I wonder how many of the commenters advocating for more "protection" actually go to games.
13
Instead of buying a tkt for the 2 y/o or the 4 y/o, spend the $ on a babysitter.
32
For decades dugouts were open and had no fencing in front of them. Now all of them have some form of protection for the players. Why? Because players were getting hurt by foul balls. Most teams have extended the nets to the edge of the dugout, so at least 50 per cent of the bottom bowl seats watch the game through a net already. Extend it to the foul polls and we will never have to read the story about the 79 year old women killed at a baseball game , or see terrified players crying on the field because they have to see a 4 year old girl get hit by a ball going 100 miles an hour smash into her head. This is not the nanny state, this is not do-gooder overload, this is simply common humanity.
32
Quitcha griping. Netting is SO 20th Century.
We got interceptor drones for this!
3
If you really think M.L.B. should do more to protect fans, you might advocate for no longer selling alcohol at games. I'd give 10-1 odds that substantially more innocent people are hurt by drunken fans driving home after a game than by batted balls during the game.
13
In Japan, every ball parks have nets on infield stand. That was made because they want to protect people running into ground. But we watch MLB games on TV, so we talk about to diminish netting. Ball park in Japan has wider foul grand than ball park in US.
7
Jeff Passan wrote that the ball traveled 160 feet in 1.2 seconds. This isn't a matter of fans needing to look up from their phones.
29
My son and I sat in the second deck at the Oakland Coliseum next to some elderly women who were crocheting while watching the game. Fouls flew up there regularly and the dents in the wall behind us were evidence of their power. The ladies were not ruffled by the barrage. As season ticket holders they were used to it. My son and I maintained a high level of alertness and he kept his glove ready. I'm not sure how easy it would be to protect that area with a net.
6
Money, money, money!
"The New York Yankees will charge $500 to $2,500 for seats near home plate in the first five-to-eight rows of their new ballpark. They already have commitments from ticket-buyers for all 122 of the front-row seats.”
That’s $2500 a GAME! Every team wants a new stadium with box seats and sitting in the FRONT ROW! (Thanks Bob Ueker!)
I’ve been to literally thousands of games. In the front rows at MBA and MLB games there are cocktail waitresses and menus! It’s all about entertaining the fans. Between each inning they have sausage/hot dog races, kissing cams, trivia contests! Gotta deal with 20 second attention spans!
I have watched businessmen and families who NEVER watch the game...too busy eating and texting!
There I am a woman. Marking her scorecard for every game.
And the length of games! 4-6 hours...and extra innings can go to 4 am!
I LOVED watching the Professor Greg Maddux pitch. His games were always under two hours. Get a side out on three pitches--three grounders--three outs. He was so fast that watching on TV Maddux was on his second or third pitch coming back from a commercial.
Sorry--all pro sports have become WAY too expensive and a joke.
Go for a safe hike with your kids!
22
Close the ballparks to the public. Televise the games. No one gets hurt watching TV.
Or. Grow up. Take responsibility for placing yourself in harms way. Stop blaming other people for your poor decisions.
The parent is the responsible party. Not MLB. Not a lack of netting.
15
Lots of empathy you have for a little girl. Nice guy.
34
Make the ball clubs liable for all injuries and you'll see the number of incidents come down quickly. Netting would go up in the most dangerous areas and there would be zones where kids under 12 aren't allowed. Helmets for kids might be required in dangerous areas.
Does the MLB really want us to stop taking our children to ball games? Absolutely not. So let them take some responsibility for their safety. These clubs are owned by some of the richest people in the country. They can afford to either make it safer or pay the damages.
Sure some people want to sit exposed and they should have specially designated seats available. But most of us expect a pleasant day at the ballpark to remain pleasant even when a player fouls off a 100 mph fastball.
In Japan they have come up with some solutions:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?=1321529584543479
13
The adult brings a small child and has no MIT..??
7
Baseball can do better, but let's not give the parents a pass.
Anybody who has attended a baseball game knows about foul balls. When I have been at games I am constantly vigilant for this kind of thing.
The first protection for a child at a baseball game is the parent sitting next to them.
19
I question why a child under the age of 5 should even be brought to a crowded place like an sports venue.My father used to take me to Triple A games in Houston to see the St. Louis farm team Houston Buffs.
We were sitting on the third base side and someone hit a sky high foul ball pop up. About 6 feet away a kid stood up and as he watched it go up about 100 feet in the air it came down right on his forehead . Knocked him out cold and he was carried off still unconscious.
I was about 8 at the time and I would guess he was a couple of years older.
I wonder how many people with little kids at a crowded venue whether it be musical or sporting would know how to quickly exit in case of an emergency. It might be wise to reconsider taking toddlers and hiring a babysitter instead.
22
I attended a Texas Rangers game a few days ago and sat in row 18 behind the Rangers' dugout. It was my first game with seats in that location. The netting extended beyond the dugout but was not high enough to protect us. That was a surprise. My guess is that the netting covered only the first 12 rows.
5
The best thing for baseball fans would be a victim unwilling to accept settlement from MLB and to try the case in court.
Thirty years ago in law school we studied cases about injured fans struck by line drives at baseball games. It all came down to the waiver of liability on the back of the ticket.
But times change. Now we have many, many more "baseball only" stadiums in which the fans are very close to the action. Also, many stadiums have been remodeled to give the fans more intimacy with the field.
In addition, the players are much stronger than the batters of yesteryear and can generate a ball with greater force. This owes to specialized weight training, better nutrition, and in many cases PEDs and supplements. You look at MLB on YouTube from the 1970s or even 80s. The players have shockingly different bodies.
Thus, for a variety of factors, there is a more danger of serious injury now. It is reasonably foreseeable that there is a higher probability of serious injury from a batted ball. I don't think the ages-old disclaimer on the ticket took this fact pattern into account.
In addition, the technology and availability of polymer netting has changed. Something could be done to prevent serious injury. The MLB clubs could make a minor adjustment which would not interfere with the fans enjoyment of the game, but they don't do it out of parsimony.
16
I think for little kids and the elderly, a hard hat should be compulsory at games. I'm sure that such hats can be made that are cheap and effective, not unlike at construction sites.
5
I went to a Blue Jays game a few years ago and, for once, paid dearly for good seats behind home plate. I didn't know the netting extended that far and I hated it. I wanted my money back. It was like watching the game through a sheer mesh, a nylon stocking. I accept that there will be accidents and injuries in life, but fans hit by foul balls is probably not even in the top ten of potential risks we all face every day, when we walk to the park, cross the street, drive on a high way, ride a bike, sky, surf, or swim. The media coverage distorts the actual weight of the risk. I probably will never go to another ball game or hockey game because of those nets: you get a better view on TV.
8
I strongly disagree. I've sat behind netting at baseball games and have been able to see just fine. After awhile, if you are paying attention to the game, you just forget the net is there.
By focusing on the net instead of the game, yes, you will likely get annoyed. It's a choice.
39
The girl is four years old. No four-year-old could get a glove or hand up fast enough to catch or deflect a hard-hit foul ball.
10
The really ugly bottom line here is that Dad or Mom or someone was on their phone or getting a beer and NOT paying attention. A grownup was Not taking care of that child.
11
Easy rule: Keep your children out of zones where 100 mph projectiles are possible.
29
When Baltimore had a major league baseball team years ago I used to go to games, and usually sit on the home third base side lower box. I would always sit my family to my left and bring a glove. The only time I was close to one though was a foul pop in to the mezzanine seats one time and the guy in front of me caught it. Ironically my little girl had JUST asked me to catch her a foul ball - and then here it comes on the next pitch and that jerk went and ruined everything. Now I see people with their faces buried in their cell phones while sitting in foul ball zones, maybe even with children in tow. Crazy. A hard shot might be hard to evade anyway, but don't make it a likelihood by not paying attention.
11
This is absolutely correct. Sit the family downstream and pay attention. This injury is not baseball’s fault. It’s probably Dad’s.
5
@Mike N
Baltimore still has a major league team. Although you wouldn't think so given their performance.
7
I was at a game at Westgate ball park of the then Pacific Coast League Padres when a foul ball passed through a hole in the net, missed me by inches and hit a child sitting one row behind me and my Dad and hit a girl in the head.
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sports/sdut-travel-top-50-sites-westgate-park-2013jun29-htmlstory.html
2
There is no excuse for this. I understand the how and the why. I simply disagree about a couple of things which must occur. Obviously, more protective netting needs to be put up. Also, as is mentioned about distractions (specifically cellphones), fans need to take care of themselves and their children by paying close attention to the game. I have sat field level at Yankee Stadium, just beyond the fencing. You might have a split second to cover a child; it is very close. There is no time to be using a cellphone while sitting (or walking) there. Especially if you bring a very small child to a game. Personally, I wouldn't. I have a young teenage daughter, too. Now I would, but when she was preschool, no way. Even then it is far too dangerous the way the netting is set up. I think one should either leave your child with a sitter or bring them to a safe seating area.
8
hopefully physical attendance at these events is voluntary - what the legal ramifications for unknowing perhaps unwilling minors are, is unknown
Sit in the bleachers or the third deck and pay attention to the game and your children, not your cell phone, and the likelihood of getting hurt by a ball is pretty much zero. If you want to sit behind the dugout, leave your kids at home.
This story really is not about baseball. It is about our society's greater and greater proclivity toward nanny-statism. If M.L.B. the Times, the authors, and everyone else really want to protect people, especially innocent children, they should take the energy they spend on making going to a baseball game immune from reality and, instead, advocate for more taxes to pay for more cops to enforce traffic laws.
Around, 40,000 are killed each year by largely preventable crashes, including a couple thousand innocent children. You are a lot safer at a ball game where the drunks and TEXTers aren't wielding a ton of high-speed lethality.
I wonder how many readers who worry about being hit by a foul ball (or home run, for that matter) go to a game, have a couple beers, and then (try to!) drive home.
11
Parents should evaluate the risk of sitting on the baseline. Foul balls are part of the game. Choose wisely when purchasing seats and consider the safety of viewing the game further from the playing field.
9
Players, coaches, fans, journalists, and politicians all want extended netting, by a large margin.
How many fans have to get hurt or die before MLB does the right thing? Why are baseball owners so unwilling to do the right thing and extend the netting? Why are they so uncaring? This is a public health & safety issue. These stadiums are mortally dangerous. And why doesn't Commissioner Manfred man up and tell them this is bad for the game, bad for the fans, bad for the players and, most important to the monopolist owners, bad for their business?
It's time for political oversight since baseball owners cant regulate themselves. Congress should hold hearings. Saving baseball from these rapacious owners is something all Americans, R's and D's, can agree on. Their time is up.
8
I attend at least one Yankee home game per season, some years I am able to attend several. I never understand why adults bring young children to these types of events. Before the start of every game, there is an announcement (a warning) made about seating and foul balls coming into the stadium. Everyone is given the opportunity to move their seats if they feel at risk in their seats. All they have to do is ask to be moved. Accidents do happen.
12
When a home run beans someone in the bleachers, they'll encase the whole field. Also, sorry for the little girl's injury. Pay attention when you're at the game folks.
3
Last year a 79 year old women was killed by a foul ball at Dodger Stadium. The nets should extend to the foul poles. This is a no brainer. The most expensive seats at most stadiums are behind home plate and they have enjoyed these seats for decades viewing the game behind a net. You get used to the nets in five minutes and they do not diminish the enjoyment of baseball. Young kids and adults love the chance to snag a foul ball but it is not worth the loss of a single life. Young child loses the opportunity to get a foul ball. 79 year old women dies. This is a easy choice.
6
Listening to all aspects of this freak accident. I'll say all sports in general have it's goodies for injury to spectators.
The old school way of thinking is, you're there to watch a event, instead today's world is more interested in the thing I'm swyping on now.
The new world, which I'm totally against, has to put more rules and more restrictions and more government ways of thinking than really addressing the real problem.
You take your child to a sporting event, let's say a golf tournament, you going to stand in the line of these professional golfers who could at anytime shank one while you as a parent are too stupid to get out of the way. Shame on the world for getting the way we are and how things are reported
1
This probably sounds callous, but the parent made a bad decision. Getting seats in that area of the stadium endangered the child. I'm sure dad enjoyed the great seats, but honestly it was a poor decision. The child was completely defenseless. Anyone who chooses to get seats in those areas had better be paying attention at all times and would be wise to not bring small children with them.
As far as distractions go, any fan sitting in seats were felt balls can come flying in a high-speed should be paying attention to the game, not looking at cell phones. But here, operators of baseball stadiums actually share in the blame. Fans at most stadiums are now bombarded one with an endless auditory and visual cacophony of song and video clips and chants displayed on multiple gigantic video screens. When something exciting happens, you can barely hear the cheering through all the bells and whistles blared through the loudspeakers. I'm sure it's a real treat for people with ADHD, but as far as I am concerned, it does nothing but detract from the game and distract fans. Get rid of all that junk and bring back the organs!
10
When I am at games now, I see nearly half the fans with their heads buried in their phones. I don't know if that was the case at Wrigley Wednesday, but I strongly suspect that this is a factor in the epidemic of fans being hurt by batted balls. They make you turn off your phone at movies and plays; maybe they should do it at ballgames as well.
6
I attend games at First Data Field in Port St. Lucie, the spring training home of the Mets. The low netting extends down the basepaths far beyond the dugout. The high netting goes to the ends of the dugouts.
I sit behind that low netting and saw a ball wiz by. However, bats don't make it over that low netting.
The problem I see is that people have a false sense of security and have been hit by balls that ricochet off the walls and overhang.
Nothing will be 100%, but I think low netting down the base paths is a good idea.
5
At the risk of sounding cold-hearted, we cannot wrap ourselves completely in a cocoon. Reasonable safety is expected, but then people themselves have to assume some responsibility.
This is awful, but the percentage of spectators hurt during games is infinitesimal. The prospect of catching a foul ball is a hope of millions.
I really hope that the little girl is not badly hurt.
8
If it wasn't for the 2 minute Delay of Game penalty, the NHL would have to place netting all around the skating rinks.
(and they still probably should regardless)
But, it took the death of a young girl before the NHL placed netting extending to the upper levels behind the goals.
Baseball has already had similar events. So why are they hedging with these "we will look into it during the off-season" responses?
12
Unless the stands are completely covered in netting from top to bottom, there will always be the chance that a long foul ball down the baseline or a high foul popup back into the stands will injure. (Yes, a falling towering foul can injure as much as a screaming low foul ball if you are unlucky enough to be hit on the head.) An adult can knowingly assume the risk of injury; a small child cannot. The picture of a family enjoying a baseball game together is idyllic, but parents/guardians are responsible for the safety of the children in their care. Is it right for a caretaker to place the child in a situation that unnecessarily tempts injury?
4
When I was a kid you went to the game in the hopes of getting a foul ball. If you put up enough netting, getting a foul ball will have gone the way of the dodo bird and some kids won’t even want to go.
3
Baseball is a great sport, but just like the CTE cases with the NFL back in the day, we cannot tell ourselves we are doing things right when incidents like this occur. The MLB needs to take action. It is a Tragedy what happened on Wednesday night. Let's not let it happen again, instead let's extend netting to close ranged foul ball areas. It's not too hard to realize. Trust me I'm 17.
7
To those who say people should just pay more attention to the game, as true as that may be, (i)people cannot keep their eyes on the ball all the time and even people who are watching the action are obviously going to look away sometimes for plenty of natural reasons, and (ii) even if you are watching, good luck protecting yourself from a ball going 100 mph, it’s a lot easier said than done. The netting doesn’t obstruct the view at all; I have never even noticed it sitting a few rows behind the dugout. There’s no good reason not to extend it to protect people. It is not a conspiracy to create a ‘nanny state’; get a grip people.
48
I have always thought the chance of getting beaming by a baseball was good motivation to pay attention to the game when you are at the stadium...I mean why did you go if you are not there to watch the game? I have many fond memories of going to Fenway with my mitt as a kid with my Dad in the hopes a ball would come my way. (Never got that lucky.) That being said, perhaps there should be be an added and more overt warning for tickets in certain areas of the stadium. Up to and including not allowing children under a certain age to sit in those areas.
6
@Still Waiting for a NBA Title
You'd have to be focusing 100% on the ball to have even the slightest chance of evading a 95 mph line drive from 75ish feet away.
Here's the trailer for the Real Sports episode where they study this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miiahEyxSTI
11
@Still Waiting for a NBA Title Why do you assume people who get hit aren't watching the game? My mother got hit by a screaming line drive years ago. She was watching the game. No surprise, she couldn't duck fast enough. This article gives a couple of reasons that might explain why there's increased danger for fans these days (even alert ones).
6
@Still Waiting for a NBA Title but what about a child?
4
The Japanese are mad for baseball and they protect the entire perimeter of every stadium with netting for OBVIOUS reasons. A few people buy tickets in clear-view seats, but they wear helmets to minimize risk. MLB ought to follow their lead. TODAY.
53
@Daisy
Not only is there more netting in Japan, they have park employees in the stands watching for popups that might go over the net into the crowd and they blow whistles to alert everyone.
14
@Daisy Excellent ideas. The MLB should add both.
8
As a baseball fan and a father of a young girl this breaks my heart. When netting was extended I thought this might ruin the viewing experience but as with so many things you get used to the netting and don’t even realize it is there. As the story points out the seats are closer to the field and those balls scream off the bats with unbelievable force. Yes, there is risk being hit by a ball but MLB should do everything reasonable to protect fans.
20
I have sat in those seats and it's scary. Actually, I won't sit there anymore. Hey Owners! It's an easy (cheap) fix. Do it!
20
Maybe we should consider not allowing children in parts of the ballpark susceptible to dangerous line drives instead of adding more netting. Responsible adults are tired of having their world policed in order to protect young children
27
@Dylan, I think that’s a great idea actually. As a mom with two little kids, I would definitely purposefully purchase tickets in a part of the ballpark where the risk of getting hit was really low - if I knew where that was. If the seats aren’t great, maybe they’d be less expensive too and I wouldn’t have to worry about my kids’ attention spans as much too.
6
@Dylan what about Linda Goldbloom, 79, who was sitting in a second-deck seat behind home plate when a foul ball cleared the netting and struck her in the head and she died four days later? Was she irresponsible? Should we also consider not allowing the elderly in parts of the ballpark as well just so you don't have to see a protective net? Suggesting that the parents of children who are injured at a baseball game are somehow irresponsible is just downright awful. Do you lack the ability to show empathy or just choose not to?
11
This is not about baseball. This is about our society's greater and greater proclivity toward nanny-statism. If M.L.B. the Times, the authors, and everyone else really want to protect people, especially innocent children, they should take the energy they spend on making going to a baseball game immune from reality and, instead, advocate for more taxes to pay for more cops to enforce traffic laws. Around, 40,000 are killed each year by largely preventable crashes, including a couple thousand innocent children. You are a lot safer at a ball game where the drunks and TEXTers aren't wielding a ton of high-speed lethality.
Sit in the bleachers or the third deck and pay attention to the game, not your cell phone, and the likelihood of getting hurt by a ball is pretty much zero. And if you want to sit in the high-priced seats behind the dugout, leave your kids at home..
24
@Steve - While you’re at it why don’t the players remove their helmets? They won’t get hit if they are paying attention. Fans are a mere split second beyond players when it comes to the ball’s trajectory.
8
@Steve Fankuchen I think your emphasis on "nanny-statism" is misplaced, especially because you are using to argue for just another form of "nanny-statism" but based on Utilitarian stats (number of car deaths ad "drunks and TEXTers").
You could go further and return to Prohibition given that far more people die from alcohol-related factors (approx. 88,000 per the CDC***). Basically, you are scolding about "nanny-statism" for no good reason as a way to impugn sensible safety measures.
https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/alcohol-use.htm
As many have stated, several people have been seriously injured even while focused on the game due to the speed of the ball and the proximity to the field of play.
8
@David
Or the safety netting in front of the players and coaches in the dugout, for that matter...
Owners don't put their families in the line of fire, they sit up in the fat-cat suites behind plexiglas.
9
This turns my stomach. I was witness to one of these events. The current inaction is equal to 'hopes and prayers' after a shooting.
Shame on major league baseball. And shame to the ticket holders resisting this change.
18
Cue the middle-aged Little Leaguers who will say it's the kid's own fault for not paying attention at all times. Hey, kid probably got a participation trophy for something. Shouldn't have been watching the game if she couldn't get out of the way. Expand that to "nanny state" comments.
Why is it that the folks who haven't been the target of a 100 mph baseball have so much to say about how easy it is to avoid one?
31
@Jack Walsh The folks that don't like netting pay attention to the action. I was at a game earlier this year where a person in the 4th row talked constantly to the person in the row behind for two innings. That's why my view is now obstructed by the extra netting. Pay attention or sit in the outfield seats.
8
@Jack Walsh Good point. You could be paying rapt attention to the game and still get beaned by a 100mph foul.
15
What can you say, that is the nature of the game. Players get injured, occasionally a fan will take one too. Major League Baseball, in all its drive to make things ever-more changed and exciting and less “old” has adopted the practice of giving foul balls and every other kind of non playable ball to the fans; they strive to make every kid’s (and kid-at-heart’s) dream come true, including of course members of erstwhile excluded groups from the sport such as girls, who, according to “the plan”, God willing when ultimate justice prevails, will push away all the fake barriers and become Major Leaguers themselves.
1
Unrelated to the nets but related to Almora last night:
It was disgusting how ESPN kept a camera zoomed in on him while he was sobbing on the bench. Luckily, his teammate Kyle Schwarber came over and obstructed the view (the video is all over twitter).
Almora, in his display of genuine emotion, showed how athletes are humans. ESPN took that an ran it into the ground to the point where I not only felt bad for Almora because of the guilt of accidentally hitting the poor girl with a foul ball, but I also because he was being exploited by ESPN. "Anything for the shot," I guess.
67
@Tim ESPN runs everything into the ground. That's what they do. I have stopped watching most of their baseball coverage because it is too often a self-serving exercise that detracts from the game itself.
12
@14woodstock
Totally agree. I no longer watch Sunday Night Baseball because the announcers and the camera work are both awful. Have MLB package that allows me to view all games not carried by espn. Announcers are hired by the teams and the games are a joy to watch. Love post season baseball but fox sports has ruined that also with terrible announcers and poor camera work.
9
While I appreciate the effort on the part of Major League Baseball, I can't really understand why the response is always "build more nets", and not also "make sure people pay attention to the ball in play". There are scores of people in the stands of a given game that are lazily scrolling through their phones, totally oblivious to what might be hurtling towards them. Maybe it's because I grew up playing baseball, and I know how much it hurts to be hit by one, but the one thing I always pay attention to at the ballpark is if the ball is in play. There used to be an ettiquette to this sort of thing, in that you were expected to actually *watch* the game you were attending. Even children. We no longer live in a distraction free environment, though, so we must at least try to protect them.
That said, if you could convince these men/women/children to keep their eyes on the ball, you could probably remove the vast majority of these accidents.
9
@Matthew Keller You make a good point. Many go to events just to be 'seen' there and take a selfie, not pay attention to the game or whatever it is.
1
@Matthew Keller And if a ball came racing at your child at 100 mph, and you attempt to put your hand up to stop it and misjudge it by a couple inches, which is probably what you would do at that speed, it would still end up beaming your child. Keeping your eyes on the ball is fine for the players with very superior hand to eye coordination, but for those fans in the stand, it is a delusion, not reality.
10
@Matthew Keller
Keep your eye on the ball
Every able bodied person sitting near to a child or anyone else who may be hit by a foul ball should be on the lookout and catch or block the ball from hitting the vulnerable person.
OK, that is what already happens, sometimes a ball gets through and actually hurts one of the fans.
Perhaps the stadium can make batting helmets available for anyone to wear, especially children.
Another solution, allow children and parents to sit in a protected area of the stands, if one brings a child to the game, they automatically earn a seat in the protected zone.
6
@tony I love the idea of having children wear helmets! We have small children wear ear protectors at loud music concerts, why not give them a little extra protection here? Adults on the other hand should be able to pay attention ...
5
Sports is just entertainment. Baseball stadiums should extend the nets for the same reason that theaters have aisle lights and fire exits.
28
I don't wish to appear callus but there's a reason these incidents are called accidents. Considering the millions of fans who attend baseball games over the course of a season, one would think that MLB is experiencing an epidemic of fatal beanings with all the attention this issue is receiving. I would hazard a guess that a person has a greater likelihood of getting shot or hit by a car than injured by a foul ball. And yet that doesn't seem to concern the NRA, Second Amendment absolutists or AAA. When I cross the street, I have an obligation to check for oncoming cars, regardless of what the crossing signal tells me. Fans have a responsibility to pay attention to what's happening on the field. Maybe stadiums should post signs everywhere advising people to get off their phones during the game, or use them between innings. Or issue an announcement when an inning is about to start.
27
@A Morris
And by your reasoning, no children should be allowed to experience a live game of baseball unless they promise to pay attention at all times. The safety of fans should be paramount, each and every time, not the moneyed interest of already rich owners.
37
@A Morris - I don't find your comments as callus. It comes down to one word - risk.
5
Seems senseless to not do this. The price of the additional protection would probably be less than what a team's 'superstar' makes for one game.
49