Put up nets to save fans!
We do not know her name, but we pray for her recovery. The little girl was at Yankee Stadium Wednesday when a 105-mph line-drive foul ball down the third-base line struck her in the face. Her father says she’s doing OK; her grandmother believes surgery won’t be needed — thank all deities, baseball and otherwise.
But there’s no need to appeal to higher powers when those of us here on Earth can fix the problem straight away, with simple netting.
What are the Yanks waiting for? Back in April, Councilman Rafael Espinal proposed legislation to require all city major and minor league ballparks to extend the protective mesh that now lines the stands behind home plate to beyond the dugouts, down the first- and third-base lines.
Soon thereafter, the Mets looked in the mirror and did what the bill would require. Easy. Their crosstown rivals hemmed and hawed. This is not a new problem. A 2015 MLB memo encouraged all teams to install additional netting. That followed a 2014 study by Bloomberg News finding that fans were struck by foul balls or bats a whopping 1,750 times in the 2013 season.
Wednesday’s was the third serious incident at Yankee Stadium this year. In May, a piece of bat hit a young boy in the head. In July, a screaming liner hit another fan. The strength of today’s hitters makes their projectiles scarier than ever.
Ten clubs have now installed baseline netting. They are all teams with passionate fans who love their sight lines. And all teams that, sadly, can teach the most storied franchise of them all something about protecting the people who cheer it on.
The Yankees must get with the net program, straight away. If they won’t, the Council and mayor must make them.