PDA

View Full Version : Should MLB introduce spectator netting to protect it's fans?


Jets4Life
06-07-2015, 06:21 AM
I saw video of that horrific incident, where a woman nearly died at Fenway Park in Boston on Friday night, when a broken bat hit her. I did some research, and found out there has been fatalities not only in MLB, but in the minor league system, when it comes to foul balls, and broken bats hitting spectators, and even people in the dugout.

"Sept. 9 (Bloomberg) -- From his perch in the Atlanta Braves infield on May 20, third baseman Chris Johnson heard what sounded to him like the crack of two bats in quick succession. The first was a line drive off the bat of Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Carlos Gomez. The second was the ball smashing into the head of an 8-year-old in black shorts and a blue shirt, who was seated in the first row behind first base.
Johnson watched as the boy’s father and a stadium first-aid crew carried him away. After the game, Johnson and catcher Gerald Laird, toting an autographed bat and ball, visited the hospital, where the boy, barely awake, was hooked up to monitors and an intravenous drip.
“It was just a little kid, man,” Johnson said. “It happens every game -- somebody gets hit. Whether it’s a bad one or not, somebody gets hit in the stands every single game.”
Johnson isn’t far off. About 1,750 spectators get hurt each year by batted balls, mostly fouls, at major-league games, or at least twice every three games, a first-of-its-kind analysis by Bloomberg News has found. That’s more often than a batter is hit by a pitch, which happened 1,536 times last season, according to Elias Sports Bureau Inc. The 8-year-old boy was one of four fans injured at the May 20 game, according to a “foul-ball log” and other first-aid records at the Braves’ Turner Field.
Unlike the National Hockey League, which mandated netting behind the goal line and higher Plexiglas above the side boards after a teenage fan was hit by a puck and died in 2002, Major League Baseball has done little to reduce the risk. Its policy is that each team is responsible for spectator safety."

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-09-09/baseball-caught-looking-as-fouls-injure-1750-fans-a-year

-----

Sorry if this topic has already been brought up, but I did a double take, on the comment boards, blaming the woman for "not paying attention" or disagreeing with safety nets, since "it would ruin the game experience." Just seeing what everyone thinks, especially considering what the NHL did, after that young fan in Columbus died in 2002, which prompted the NHL to introduce the protective netting.

Fire
06-07-2015, 10:26 AM
I was against the netting the NHL, but now it would seem crazy not to have it. I think it's just a matter of time that you see some netting down the foul lines. Though it will probably require a death for it to happen.

habernac
06-08-2015, 08:39 AM
It would destroy the view for a lot of people. I can't stand the netting at NHL rinks, I can't see through it.

Frequitude
06-08-2015, 09:51 AM
It's inevitable. I surprised it hasn't happened yet.

Tyler
06-08-2015, 12:35 PM
It would destroy the view for a lot of people. I can't stand the netting at NHL rinks, I can't see through it.

You seriously can't see through it? Through a mesh net.

Through something basically no one in the entire NHL complains about.

SERIOUSLY? :rolleyes:

Resolute 14
06-08-2015, 12:42 PM
You seriously can't see through it? Through a mesh net.

Through something basically no one in the entire NHL complains about.

SERIOUSLY? :rolleyes:

Get over yourself.

The nets *are* an annoyance. And are singlehandedly why I would never sit in an end-zone seat if I can avoid it. That people have come to accept the annoyance does not mean many people still find them annoying.

nik-
06-08-2015, 12:42 PM
I've sat behind home plate a couple times and the view was absolutely fine through the net. I don't how someone can't see through the NHL rink end netting.

Now down the foul lines I could see there being some issue as your angle towards home would cause you to see more of the netting than you do behind home plate. They might have to come up with a way to make the netting a series of nets that are more perpendicular to home plate for those sitting down the base paths and into outfield.

SuperMatt18
06-08-2015, 12:55 PM
Was at the Jays game yesterday and a couple of people got pegged off...but with baseball unless you net the whole stadium it won't help.

A lot of them were sky shot foul balls that went straight up and then came down like a ton of bricks, a couple even clearing the netting behind home plate and then landing behind it.

You could extend the nets out further to the sides to prevent the foul balls line drives that are really dangerous, but then the chance to grab foul balls is what makes those seats attractive to ppl in the first place.

IMO there should be two rules.

A) Don't sit in those seats if you have young children.
B) Bring a glove and pay attention at all times.

getbak
06-08-2015, 01:04 PM
For years, the best and most-expensive seats at every baseball stadium have been those directly behind home plate. Those seats are already protected by the backstop.

It looks like netting down the baselines is already done in Japan:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Seibu_Dome_baseball_stadium_-_26.jpg

nik-
06-08-2015, 01:18 PM
Was at the Jays game yesterday and a couple of people got pegged off...but with baseball unless you net the whole stadium it won't help.

A lot of them were sky shot foul balls that went straight up and then came down like a ton of bricks, a couple even clearing the netting behind home plate and then landing behind it.

You could extend the nets out further to the sides to prevent the foul balls line drives that are really dangerous, but then the chance to grab foul balls is what makes those seats attractive to ppl in the first place.

IMO there should be two rules.

A) Don't sit in those seats if you have young children.
B) Bring a glove and pay attention at all times.

Those are the ones they're concerned about. It's the line drive fouls and flying shattered bats which follow the same straight line trajectory into the crowd, not the moonshots.

Inferno
06-08-2015, 01:36 PM
I find as long as you don't focus on the fact you're looking through netting the view is fine and it's almost like it isn't there.

habernac
06-09-2015, 08:11 AM
You seriously can't see through it? Through a mesh net.

Through something basically no one in the entire NHL complains about.

SERIOUSLY? :rolleyes:

Lots of people complain about it.