This afternoon at lunchtime, I sat on my couch to take in some afternoon baseball. Three time zones away, two teams--the Braves and the Nationals--battled one another in what promised to be a crucial game in relation to the NL East playoff picture.
I was in the middle of reading a Bloomberg article that offered a flurry of startling statistics on fan safety at Major League Baseball games. Over 1,700 fans, it said, are hurt by batted balls each season. Thankfully, most injuries sustained are minor (i.e. a jammed finger), but over the past five years alone, a number of fans (most of them children) have suffered brain or skull damage as a result of rogue line-drives.
I should clarify that during the points at which I jerked my head back up at the TV, it seemed almost too-perfect timing when B.J. Upton, Bryce Harper or any other player would smoke a foul ball down the line. Look out, front ten rows!
The article in question mentions a young boy who, struck in the head by a foul ball at a Braves-Brewers game in Atlanta earlier in the season, received special attention in the hospital from Gerald Laird as well as Carlos Gomez, both of whom have two children of their own. A kind and heartfelt gesture for sure, but does the source of this problem need more attention?
We live in a world whose sports media exploits the failures of many who straddle the thin line on contentious issues, and for good reason: it generates viewership. Fan safety, however, seems to have taken a back seat. The only problem is, are current efforts to curtail fan injuries truly insufficient?
Let's look at the facts. Gone are many of the multipurpose, cookie-cutter stadiums which granted fans a view that was distant, at best. Now, amidst cries for "intimacy" and better sightlines, ballparks constructed since circa 1992 (think Camden Yards, Globe Life Park in Arlington, Progressive Field, etc.), have dramatically cut down the distance between the fans and the action. And don't forget all those fancy smartphone apps that require your frequent attention, even while in harm's way!
There appear to be two prevailing opinions on this issue. The first is primarily the cry of America's concerned adults, many with children: "There's no time to react when you sit close. Teams need to extend the protective screen."
The other asks those concerned to simply practice caution: "With great privilege comes great responsibility. If you choose to sit close, pay close attention. Don't like it? Choose different seats."
So go on, pick a side!
No sooner had I finished the article, than I saw the Nats' Adam LaRoche strike out swinging to end the third inning. As he hacked through that Aaron Harang curveball, his apparently pine tar-less bat slipped from his hands, spinning into the backstop netting and falling harmlessly to the ground.
A fan or two in the first row had narrowly avoided becoming statistics.
What do you think? Are fans' and others' fears of the lack of reaction time justified? Or does Major League Baseball make a good enough case for itself with ever-prominent signage, PA announcements and other reminders of the potential dangers of getting hurt at the ballpark?
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"The crowd makes the ballgame."
-Ty Cobb
