Another fan has been hit with a foul ball during a Major League Baseball game. This past weekend, a woman was at a Texas Rangers game and was struck in the head by a foul ball that was hit by Willie Calhoun. ESPN reported the fan was sitting in the 25th row when she was struck, then transported to a local hospital for further evaluation.
Fans getting hit with foul balls have been a problem for the MLB this year. NESN.com took a look at the previous incidents including a young girl getting hit by a line drive in Houston on May 29 and she was rushed to the hospital. Chicago Cubs center fielder Albert Almora Jr. was the one who hit the line drive and he was upset after the game.
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“Yeah, I don’t know. All my teammates, Joe, everybody came out and tried to talk to me and obviously I didn’t want that to happen, I didn’t intend for that to happen,” Almora said via ABC News. “Credit to [opposing pitcher Wade] Miley as well. He calmed me down. The rest was kind of a blur.
“I finally came to my senses the next half inning, after I went to the stands. … When that half-inning was over, I just couldn’t keep it in anymore.”
The MLB released a statement after that incident which touched on extending protective netting at stadiums.
“Clubs have significantly expanded netting and their inventory of protected seats in recent years. With last night’s event in mind, we will continue our efforts on this important issue,” the league said in its statement.
Another incident occurred on Jun. 10 when a woman was rushed to the hospital after being hit with a foul ball at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago. That led to the Chicago White Sox extending their protective netting a week later.
But will the rest of the teams in the MLB do the same thing as the White Sox? Commissioner Rob Manfred doesn’t see that happening anytime soon.
“Look, I think it is important that we continue to focus on fan safety,” Manfred said to Sports Illustrated. “If that means that the netting has to go beyond the dugouts, so be it. Each ballpark is different. The reason I hesitate with ‘beyond the dugout,’ I mean, a lot of clubs are beyond the dugout already. But, there is a balance here. We do have fans that are vocal about the fact that they don’t want to sit behind nets. I think that we have struck the balance in favor of fan safety so far, and I think we will continue to do that going forward.”
