Recent foul ball death raises safety concerns about baseball parks

dallas news ^ | June 26, 2010 | SCOTT K. PARKS

[Joe Boucher]

Crappola.
Ya go to a baseball game ya get your head out of your posterior and pay attention to the game.
From tee ball to the majors ya pay attention.
Else ya may get whoped by a line drive.

[palmer]

Just have the fans wear helmets.

[Uncle Ike]

” and whether more protective netting could prevent serious injuries or worse. “

Wrapped in cotton, cradle-to-the-grave... [Nanny-State Alert!]

[red tie]

Time for Wiffle balls and plastic bats? ;-)

[Huck]

Keep your eye on the ball! lol. I’m going to the new Yankee Stadium tonight! But I’ll be in a luxury suite so I don’t think I’ll be in harm’s way. I’ll keep an eye out anyway.

[red tie]

Or they could change over to tennis balls. That would be almost as good to watch as flubber balls! lol

[Man50D]

Bring a glove to the game. Problem solved.

[Canedawg]

Stay alert.

Madison Square Garden posts messages on the overhead scoreboard to “stay alert”re: pucks flying into the seats can be dangerous, LOL. Ya think?

[Vaquero]

there is netting behind and for a certain distance down the first and third base lines...I often wondered why extending it just a few dozen yards wouldnt prevent a lot of nastiness. people bring their infant children and grannies to the game....these locations are particularly vulnerable.

More and more ML dugouts have had protective netting put around them....google ‘Don Zimmer dugout Fence’

Old Don was given this 'protection' after being beaned on a melon that already had a plate in it from previous beanings as a player.....

[kidd]

How many billions of people have attended baseball games vs. how many tens of people have been injured by a foul ball?

It is probably more dangerous to drive to the game than it is to sit in the stands.

Let’s just cancel baseball.

[cripplecreek]

The Tigers lost Joel Zumaya last night almost certainly for the season if not for good. They won’t know more until today but it sounds like he may have shattered his elbow.

[savedbygrace]

Three years ago, the first base coach for the Tulsa Drillers got nailed in the side of the head by a foul ball and died very shortly afterward.

http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2007/jul/22/drillers-first-base-coach-dies-after-being-hit-fou/

[n230099]

"Just have the fans wear helmets."

You joke but, sadly, it's just not that far fetched!

[Alberta's Child]

I agree with you to some extent, but something to keep in mind is that baseball players are bigger and stronger today than they've been in the past. They simply hit the ball a hell of a lot harder now than they ever did before, and I think some of these safety concerns are legitimate.

I'd also be curious to know how the configurations of ballparks may have changed over the years. Some parks in the past (mainly those 1960s/1970s-vintage multi-use football/baseball stadiums like the ones in St. Louis, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, etc.) used to be known as "pitchers' parks" for having much more foul territory than others. The stands along the foul lines in these parks were normally set back further from the field of play.

I believe more modern parks that are designed exclusively as baseball fields have seats that are closer to the field.

[BuffaloJack]

> Bring a glove to the game. Problem solved.
I went to a minor league game less than a week ago and watched a 5 or 6 year old girl get beaned by a foul ball. I don’t think she’d have benn able to use the glove.

[Man50D]

I went to a minor league game less than a week ago and watched a 5 or 6 year old girl get beaned by a foul ball. I don’t think she’d have benn able to use the glove.

I'm assuming she didn't go alone. The adult or adults accompanying her could have brought a glove or gloves.

[driftdiver]

“It is probably more dangerous to drive to the game than it is to sit in the stands.”

Much more dangerous to drive home from the game after all those $8 beers.

[driftdiver]

Life is dangerous. People want to sit close to the field and then whine about the risk. Perhaps they should stay at home on their sofa.

[Man50D]

Perhaps they should stay at home on their sofa

That's one alternative.