USA TODAY International Edition
MLB urges more netting
Move comes amid calls to protect fans, class- action lawsuit
Three weeks after a
NASHVILLE broken maple bat entered the first few rows of Fenway Park seating in early June and struck a fan named Tonya Carpenter in the head, leaving her with lifethreatening injuries and a lengthy recovery, a similar incident happened at Citi Field.
A broken bat helicoptered into the third- base stands during the Cincinnati Reds- New York Mets game, but this time, by a fortuitous happenstance, the barrel shard missed all of the fans, landing harmlessly in the aisle on the home- plate side of Section 121. Still, it was a reminder of the regular dangers millions of fans face every time they sit in close proximity to home plate.
Facing increasing calls for improved fan safety and a class- action lawsuit, Major League Baseball on Wednesday announced recommendations to extend the netting from dugout to dugout at all 30 parks while also improving the education and information disseminated to all fans.
The decision followed a months- long study of foul- ball scatter charts. The timer at each major league game plotted the locations of each foul ball to enter the stands and whether any fan was struck or injured. The Arizona Fall League used radar technology to more closely monitor the exit velocity and destination of fouls. The increasing number of pitchers who throw in the midto upper 90s was a factor, too, as that can increase batted- ball speed a little more.
“Major League Baseball prides itself on providing fans in our ballparks with unparalleled proximity and access to our players and the game taking place on the field,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “At the same time, it is important that fans have the option to sit behind protective netting or in other areas of the ballpark where foul balls and bats are less likely to enter.
“This recommendation at- tempts to balance the need for an adequate number of seating options with our desire to preserve the interactive pregame and ingame fan experience that often centers around the dugouts, where fans can catch foul balls, see their favorite players up close and, if they are lucky, catch a tossed ball or other souvenir.”
With ballpark construction creating a more intimate fan setting, the odds also seemed to be increasing that fans would be imperiled by foul balls or broken bats. Two prominent Los Angeles Dodgers fans with season tickets under a screen and often in view of TV cameras lauded the action.
“I’m shocked a fan hasn’t been killed yet,” talk show host Larry King said. “For fan protection, it’s very important. These pitchers are throwing 100 mph. Fans will get used to it.
“I’m just surprised the netting doesn’t go all of the way past the dugouts.”
Said Dennis Gilbert, a special assistant to Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf and for- mer player agent: “Anything that can be done to improve the safety of the game is important. I want to be crystal clear: ( Netting) does not impede your viewing of the game, and I’m someone who has sat behind the net for the last 12 years.”
Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, the law firm that filed the class action suit against MLB, wants these safety upgrades to become requirements.
The only known fan to die of an injury at a ballpark was a 14year- old boy who died after being struck by a foul ball at Dodger Stadium in 1970.
“We’re glad to see that Major League Baseball and its commissioner are finally addressing the serious safety issue at stake at ballparks across the nation, but we will fight to make these new safety measures more than just recommendations and to make sure the measures are adequate,” Steve Berman, managing partner of Hagens Berman, said in a statement. “By next season, we don’t want any spectators to be under the threat of being harmed by a foul ball or bat injury, period.”
The Boston Red Sox said they, too, would add more netting and would call season ticketholders to solicit feedback about how best to do so.
The Dodgers, whose stadium was where a fan suffered a broken jaw from a flying bat in 2008, are also among the teams that already announced they would extend the netting.
Several other clubs — the Cincinnati Reds, Toronto Blue Jays, Washington Nationals and Houston Astros among them — said their stadiums were already in compliance with the new recommendations.
Sitting on the Citi Field aisle that late June evening was Rob Lutz, a marketing executive visiting from Cincinnati who saw the bat land near his feet. He was sitting halfway up the section, so the velocity at which the bat approached had slowed. A few years prior, however, Lutz was sitting down the right- field line at Yan- kee Stadium when he tried to catch a scorched liner off the bat of Robinson Cano. The ball ricocheted off his hands some 30 feet in the air.
“My fingertips tingled for a good hour, at least,” Lutz said. “If that would have hit me in the face, that would have, at the very least, knocked me out cold.”
Still, Lutz is a self- proclaimed traditionalist who said he was initially conflicted about Wednesday’s announcement. The tipping point, however, was the personal consideration: What if a more serious injury happened to him or if he brought his 78- year- old mother to the park? He’d want more protection then, saying, “Overall, I think it’s a good recommendation.”
After all, Lutz has season tickets behind the netting at Cincinnati’s Great American Ballpark and said he adjusted within a month of moving there.
“Sitting behind the plate at Great American, I’m so used to the netting that it doesn’t bother me,” Lutz said. “I think 10 years from now, even the people that cry out that this is changing the game and we shouldn’t do this, no one will even think about it anymore.”
Hagens Berman has tracked 89 incidents of bats or balls soaring into harm’s way since filing its lawsuit July 13.
July 22 in Philadelphia, a bat struck a fan, who was following the foul ball and not the bat, in the chest. But the fan was struck by the long part of the bat and avoided injury.
Many fans are distracted by mobile devices and not even tracking any part of the game, and baseball executives have acknowledged they’re surprised there haven’t been more incidents.
The league has retained a consultant to assist in the implementation of the netting. The architecture of the 30 parks varies enough that individualized plans are necessary.
Player guest tickets are typically behind the netting or elevated enough to be out of harm’s way. Oakland Athletics outfielder Sam Fuld, who has three young children, has said he would never let his family sit in an unprotected area.