MLB must extend netting from foul pole to foul pole

Giants Field

It happens without fail once or twice a year. Major League Baseball’s airtight legal protection from being held responsible for fans being struck in the face or head and injured by a foul ball is put to the test. The first grim reminder that fans are only as safe as their human reflexes will keep them as a projectile flying at 100 miles per hour comes screaming at them came last night as the Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs squared off at Minute Maid Park.

Cubs outfielder Albert Almora sent a foul ball down the third base line in the top of the fourth inning. As soon as he swung at a down-and-in pitch (the type of pitch that speeds up a player’s bat and typically results in sharp foul balls into the crowd), Almora had his hands on his head, grimacing. He knew he had made solid contact and the ball would be heading into the stands. Everyone’s worst nightmares were realized when the ball struck a small child in the face. Play was halted while the girl was rushed out of the stadium. Though no fault of his own, Almora was visibly shaken by the incident and in tears on the field.

Almora was still in shock and trying to process the child’s injuries after the game.

“I had to try to keep my composure during that at-bat, but when that half-inning was over, I just couldn’t hold it anymore,” Almora told reporters after the game.

“Right now, I’m just praying and I’m speechless,” he said. “I’m at loss of words. Being a father, two boys … but God willing, I’ll be able to have a relationship with this little girl for the rest of my life. But just prayers right now, and that’s all I really can control.”

While it is true that Almora cannot control the outcome of this jarring scene, it is not true that Major League Baseball is powerless to stop fans from being struck in the face by foul balls and broken bats. Netting to protect fans has slowly crept to the ends of the dugouts in every stadium, but there is no reason it has to stop there. There is no excuse not to extend the netting all the way from foul pole to foul pole in every park.

Fans should be expected to assume as little risk as possible when they enter a stadium. Seats a few rows off the field at Minute Maid Park sell for well over $100. No one paying that much should be forced to worry about finding themselves in the emergency room because they were unable to react to a scorching line drive. It has nothing to do with distracted fans, either (though the league should still care about the fan on their iPhone, especially as every team continues to encourage fans to visit their app or post pictures on Instagram while in the park).

A fan devoting every available brain wave to following the path of a foul ball would still likely struggle to get out of the way of the hardest hit balls — we are in the stands for a reason, after all. A child cannot be expected to protect themselves, and a parent seated with them may struggle to properly react.

There should be no more equivocating on the part of Major League Baseball and its teams. Extending the netting from pole to pole is not a difficult decision. Hundreds of fans are struck and injured every year, and it is entirely preventable. Parents should feel comfortable sitting with their children as close to the field as possible. After all, the best way to teach and excite young fans about the game is to get them as close to the action, not shuffle them off to the far reaches of the stadium where picking up the ball and following the action is mostly impossible for small eyes.

Adding as much netting as possible is not a complex issue. This is not the Second Amendment or Roe vs. Wade we’re talking about here. Seriously — it’s netting. At a stadium. Grow up. This is making an entertainment venue as safe as possible for paying customers, especially children and the elderly. The netting will not affect your view of the game, and if it was an issue, you could bet fans would not be paying through the nose to sit right behind home plate where there has always been netting.

This cannot be allowed to continue happening, and players should not be put in the position where they fell even slightly responsible for injuring a fan. Albert Almora should not have been left distraught on the diamond, and that small fan should not have had to spend the night in the hospital. MLB doesn’t need to be party to another death, like Linda Goldbloom’s in 2018, and a player who is just trying to play a game sure doesn’t need to cause one with a swing of a bat.

We don’t need to wait three years for every team in the league to add netting from pole to pole like the three years it took from MLB’s suggestion in 2015 that netting be extended to the ends of the dugouts and 2018 when all 30 teams complied. This is an easy fix, and it will do more good than harm to the state of the game of baseball.

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Sky Line Net Installations Inc. is a 100% independently owned Canadian Company. Specializing in design, engineering, supply and installation of sports and industrial barrier netting systems since 1980, we are considered the leaders in innovative design and performance throughout Canada. Our expertise allows us to match the best pole and line support materials along with the best foundation designs to the finest netting materials for our customer’s requirements anywhere in Canada.

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