Pitting MLB - Put up some fucking nets to protect the fans, already.

[leftfield6]

I’m watching the Braves-Cubs game from Wrigley Field in Chicago, bottom of the first inning a Cubs player hits a screaming line drive foul ball into the stands near the first base dugout. It strikes a female fan in the head so hard that it ricochets, direct from her head, all the way back out to the middle of the infield. She was attended to by the onsite medical crew, and then was taken out on a medical cart.

Don’t know yet, and we may never know, if she is okay. Whether she is okay or not is not really the point. The point is, she should not have been hit.

Just last week a fan in Detroit was struck in the head. Detroit star pitcher Justin Verlander called for MLB to do something about it:

Those low liners, they catch us off guard in the dugout and we’re Major League Baseball players. We still get hit.

More protective measures need to be put in place in all ball parks! Players are sick of seeing injuries that could easily be avoided!

2 days ago, it happened in Comerica Park

Extending the protective nets to the ends of the dugouts at a minimum is a prudent step. Not sure why it has not been done. Some will argue that “I pay big dollar for these seats, and I don’t need a net in front of me blocking my vision” Guess what, the most expensive seats on the house are behind home plate. Yep, there is a net there.

If I had a youngster, no way I would sit along the baselines where these screaming line drives go.

Probably not enough profanity here for the pit, but it’s a serious issue. Damn it.

[Peremensoe]

@leftfield6

Extending the protective nets to the ends of the dugouts at a minimum is a prudent step. Not sure why it has not been done. Some will argue that “I pay big dollar for these seats, and I don’t need a net in front of me blocking my vision” Guess what, the most expensive seats on the house are behind home plate. Yep, there is a net there.

But many people don’t sit there, for that reason. I don’t want to watch a game through netting. Price isn’t the only measure of desirability (and can be a counter factor, of course). Plenty of games have better crowds behind the dugouts than behind the plate.

In any case, viewing preferences aside, the netting is far more necessary behind the plate than down the lines–many more balls, even less reaction time.

[Happy_Lendervedder]

I’d rather watch the game through a little netting than see someone get branded by a foul screamer or broken bat.

[chizzuk]

@Peremensoe

But many people don’t sit there, for that reason. I don’t want to watch a game through netting. Price isn’t the only measure of desirability (and can be a counter factor, of course). Plenty of games have better crowds behind the dugouts than behind the plate.

In any case, viewing preferences aside, the netting is far more necessary behind the plate than down the lines–many more balls, even less reaction time.

On the flip side, I refuse to sit right behind the dugouts or right along the baselines because of fear of screaming foul balls or bat shards. At least once per game, a ball will go over there and scare the daylights out of everybody, and your day can be spectacularly ruined in the blink of an eye. I’m going to a Nationals game in a couple of weeks and when I bought the tickets online, the first ones they offered were right behind the first base dugout and I dumped them back for that exact reason and bought club level instead.

I would hazard a guess that far more people don’t sit behind home plate because the tickets are $300-1000 apiece than because of netting blocking their view. This tends to make those sections half-full of corporate executives, front office personnel from the home and visiting teams, and other teams’ scouts.

[bobot]

I can’t support this pitting. Anyone who wants to sit that close to the action, must be responsible for keeping one’s eyes on the action. I hope the fan is ok, but I don’t want more netting. Kids who sit near the dugouts are rewarded by the players and ballboys with balls and a word or 2 sometimes with a player. Nets would mess that all up. Keep the eyes open, people, there are very fast and solidly hard things flying around here!

[Guinastasia]

Honestly? I think it’s only a matter of time before someone’s seriously injured, or even killed. That happened already in the NHL, and now they have protective netting up at each end of the rink, where people are most likely to get hit.

Is it honestly worth the risk?

[Amateur_Barbarian]

Which is one of the reasons the primary rule in baseball, for players, umps and spectators, is… keep your eye on the ball. If you aren’t paying attention, whether it’s for the old-school excuse of taking a nap, or the 21st-century problem of fucking with your smartphone, you should be up in the nosebleeds where you can’t get hurt. People who are there to glance at the game less frequently than they might at home, on TV, because they’re working on Dodger Dogs, cheeze fries, selfies, beer, or a tan… no sympathy.

[leftfield6]

@bobot

I can’t support this pitting. Anyone who wants to sit that close to the action, must be responsible for keeping one’s eyes on the action. I hope the fan is ok, but I don’t want more netting. Kids who sit near the dugouts are rewarded by the players and ballboys with balls and a word or 2 sometimes with a player. Nets would mess that all up. Keep the eyes open, people, there are very fast and solidly hard things flying around here!

I get that, I really do. I’d rather there not be netting or plexiglass as well. But it’s easy to say just keep your eye on the ball, pay attention, etc. The reality is even if you are sitting around the third or first base dugout, focused on the action, your reaction time is a split second. As in less than a second. Even professional baseball players are challenged to defend themselves in that time frame, much less a fan. Add in a parent keeping an eye on their kids, getting a hot dog from a vendor, or any other of a number of small things that take your eye away for a split second.

Almost without exception the players are calling for some kind of fan protection.

And I’m sorry, but I have to say it, I question the judgement of anyone who would take a child into the area around the dugouts, what one baseball writer referred to as a “war zone”.

[kaylasdad99]

Yeah, MLB, get on that net thing!

AFTER you’ve ditched the designated hitter and regular season interleague play.

[leftfield6]

@Amateur_Barbarian

Which is one of the reasons the primary rule in baseball, for players, umps and spectators, is… keep your eye on the ball. If you aren’t paying attention, whether it’s for the old-school excuse of taking a nap, or the 21st-century problem of fucking with your smartphone, you should be up in the nosebleeds where you can’t get hurt. People who are there to glance at the game less frequently than they might at home, on TV, because they’re working on Dodger Dogs, cheeze fries, selfies, beer, or a tan… no sympathy.

Keep your eye on the ball…and with less than a second reaction time, you can still get hit by a screaming missile coming into the stands. I agree that it is nuts to do some of the things that people do at baseball games, but you can’t convince me that for each of between 200-300 pitches you are going to be 100% focused in, and have your hands free to adopt a defensive posture.

MLB wants families to go to games, families means kids, and kids means sometimes distracted parents.

[Oredigger77]

My seats at Coors Field are behind home and the net regularly bugs me. I’ve talked to my wife about moving out closer to the dugouts to get out from behind it and to get closer. She’s worried about the line drives.

Having nets will decrease fan interaction and when I got to go to dodger stadium last year I sat right behind to dugout so I could interact with the players. I also brought my glove. It sucks when bad things happen to people but I think a majority of the injuries could be removed by people who want to pay attention and come prepared sitting in those seats rather then someone who is fussing with four kids and knows they won’t be able to watch the game.

[leftfield6]

@Oredigger77

My seats at Coors Field are behind home and the net regularly bugs me. I’ve talked to my wife about moving out closer to the dugouts to get out from behind it and to get closer. She’s worried about the line drives.

Having nets will decrease fan interaction and when I got to go to dodger stadium last year I sat right behind to dugout so I could interact with the players. I also brought my glove. It sucks when bad things happen to people but I think a majority of the injuries could be removed by people who want to pay attention and come prepared sitting in those seats rather then someone who is fussing with four kids and knows they won’t be able to watch the game.

So, what is your solution then? You going to limit who can sit in the dugout seats to only those who don’t have kids, and brought their glove to the game?

Not a solution.

Eh, oh well, seems like a number of people are okay with the status quo. I guess the people who get plunked just need to rub some dirt on it, and it will be fine.

:dubious:

[friedo]

@kaylasdad99

Yeah, MLB, get on that net thing!

AFTER you’ve ditched the designated hitter and regular season interleague play.

I’m with you on the DH, but let’s stop pretending there is any such thing as “leagues” anymore.

[Peremensoe]

@chizzuk

On the flip side, I refuse to sit right behind the dugouts or right along the baselines because of fear of screaming foul balls or bat shards.

Exactly. As things stand, most parks offer a variety of perspectives on the game. People who want to be protected, are, either by being behind the net or by being above the zone of line drives. The seats most needing the most protection have it.

[Peremensoe]

@friedo

I’m with you on the DH, but let’s stop pretending there is any such thing as “leagues” anymore.

Having the DH in the American League only is valuable now expressly for maintaining the different feels of the two.

Again, everybody has the choice to watch in the style they prefer.

[TriPolar]

At the ball park you get a magic ticket stub. This stub is like a protective shield. A shield around the ballclub that protects them from getting hit by a lawsuit.

It’s a balance between the higher prices for seats in the danger zone and spectator safety where there’s no financial upside for spectator safety.

Deaths from foul balls are not common according to this Slate Articleabout the book* Death at the Ballpark: A Comprehensive Study of Game-Related Fatalities, 1862-2007*

Fatal fastballs to the head, meanwhile, aren’t nearly as common as you’d expect. In the past 150 years, only one fan at a major league baseball game has been killed by a foul ball—a 14-year-old in Los Angeles named Alan Fish. The liner that fractured Fish’s skull came off the bat of Dodger pinch-hitting specialist Manny Mota, whose own teenage nephew would be killed 14 years later while playing shortstop in New York—a coincidence Gorman and Weeks don’t stop to note. Mota’s nephew, a high-schooler, was struck by lightning as he stood in the field, five minutes after the umpire announced he was going to call the game at the end of the inning.

[kaylasdad99]

@Peremensoe

Having the DH in the American League only is valuable now expressly for maintaining the different feels of the two.

Again, everybody has the choice to watch in the style they prefer.

Fuck that. If they want to distinguish themselves, they can take a hint from the ABA, and redesign their baseballs.

The DH totally obviates the point of baseball.

[D_Odds]

I attend a lot of games, and once a season I get those primo seats. Every game, there are several announcements about the danger of bats and balls, and an offer for anyone wanting a safer seat to contact a stadium employee.

There’s a bigger risk driving too and from the stadium. There’s a bigger risk slipping in the bathtub while showering that morning. And that’s with all the safety features and no-slip pads, etc. People assume the risk of field level seats. If they want protection, sit further away or further back. Don’t add more nets. Personally, I don’t like the nets in the NHL either, and would never sit in the seats behind the nets.

[Construct]

If you don’t want to get hit by a baseball, don’t go to baseball games. Why do you insist on forcing your personal preferences on everyone else?

[leftfield6]

@Construct

If you don’t want to get hit by a baseball, don’t go to baseball games. Why do you insist on forcing your personal preferences on everyone else?

Oh good, you’re opposed to my pitting on this issue. That makes me feel better about it.

Look. I’m no fan of the “nanny state” approach to everything, but I do think there can be reasonable precautions, but your incredibly insightful response shows a pure black or white (see, I did that just for you ) approach to things.

Don’t want to get hit by a baseball, don’t go a baseball game, right?

Don’t want to get hit by a stray bullet, don’t go to a National Park

Don’t want to die in an auto accident? Then don’t ride in a car.

Don’t want to be the victim of car theft? Then don’t own a car.

Those are all perfectly clear examples of your either/or type of thinking. But no, that’s not what we do. We put safety standards in place to lessen the chance of death or serious injury in your car. We build in security measures to keep it from getting stolen. As for the example of the stray bullet, well I guess we as a society can’t do anything about that one as long as we have the politics of fringe gun owners.

My point is, easonable measures are possible to make sitting near the field of play safer. It doesn’t have to be either/or.

I used to have season tickets for an MLB team, I did so for about 10 years. One year I splurged and bought seats just past the end of the third base dugout, about 5 rows back. Prime spot for either a right handed batter to pull the ball with some real power behind it, and also for lefties to swing late and foul one off. The line drives off the lefties were almost worse, because they were always hit off the end of the bat, and had a mean slice to them. I was never hit, but a guy in the row in front of me took a nasty shot. He WAS alert, he WAS watching, and he even attempted to get his hands up and catch the ball. He misjudged it, it missed his hands, and hit him in the upper chest, almost right on the collarbone. He was okay, but shaken. What he also had was a clear impression of the seams of the baseball branded into his skin. He was also shaken because the seat next to him was filled with a 10 year old girl. If the ball had been a foot or so to the right, she would have been the recipient of the blow.

I hesitate to post this video, because the knuckleheads in the stands are exactly the guys you are all saying you have no sympathy for, They are not paying attention, and are oblivious for the ball heading right for them. The guy on the right, and I don’t think I’m exagerating here, missed being killed by less than 6 inches. A ball hit that hard, full on in the face would be potentially deadly. But in this video, watch the reactions of the professional baseball players sitting in the dugout. It’s a little hard to judge distances, but look how close the ball is to the stands before even THEY react.