7/27/2009

A question

Do baseball stadiums need to install netting to protect fans?
Prosecutors attempted to prove a baseball was a lethal weapon last week in the trial of former Peoria pitcher Julio Castillo, who hit a fan in the head at a Dayton Dragons game last summer.

If that’s the case, why aren’t they taking the Dragons — and the rest of baseball — to task for not putting up netting to prevent injuries to fans enjoying a family entertainment game?
Discuss.

3 comments:

THE KID said...

If they did I would be about as disappointed as i was earlier today when i found out that Big Head Todd & The Monsters just canceled their show at Watertown's Riverfest scheduled for 8/9 (Riverfest has no idea how much beer sales they lost from my friends and I).

Well, maybe i'd be a little more disappointed. The only time i sit behind the net is when my wife gets tickets for free from her employer.

Whether TWCF@FCS, Miller Park or Spring Training in AZ, i would never buy seats behind home plate and a net given the choice.

Pay attention to the game and you should not have any issues.

parkside21 said...

Funny, Kid...I actually prefer to sit behind the net. At least at T-rat games, I often take a magazine with me (Baseball America is my usual choice), to read between innings and sometimes into the first few pitches of an inning...one can only watch the sumo wrestling / hamburger race so many times, or sometimes I bring my trusty headphones with me to listen to Mehring's golden pipes call the game...no offense to Chris, but I often find myself daydreaming a bit when I listen to him, and my eyes start to wander around the stadium, looking at outfielders, the dugout, etc etc and not watching the batter, and thus sometimes miss the ball coming off the bat. I do sometimes sit behind the dugout, or along the lines, both of which aren't protected by the net, and while I do enjoy that view from time to time too...I guess I find myself more relaxed when I'm behind the net...even though it makes my eyes go buggy sometimes.

What I'm trying to say is....by no means do I think they should extend the net all the way around the stadium or anything, that would be ridiculous. However, too many times I've seen people NOT watching the game and have a close call with a foul ball that buzzes by them. I've seen more than a few broken noses (or whatever a bloody face means) at various baseball games and venues in the past couple years. While I don't support a stadium wide net, I wish fans that don't sit behind the net would pay more attention to the game, and were more aware of the potential danger of doing so. Heck, even if you're paying attention to the game, there's no way you can react in time to completely dodge a foul ball coming off the bat at 100 mph. Let alone if you're not paying attention at all and gabbing it up with friends along the first base line, while there's a right handed hitter at the plate.

THE KID said...

I’ve got a good friend who’s Austrian (no, not Arnold) who’s girlfriend works for the governmental tourism board. I learned a very interesting fact from her when they were on a visit.

Because Austria is roughly half the size (square miles) of Wisconsin and in a mountainous region…there are not a lot of golf courses. So as to limit the amount of hacks on the courses, you have to take a class & pass a test before you’re allowed on the majority of courses.

I’m not a scratch golfer by any means, but I know how to play and I know the rules and etiquette and it irritates me to no end when others don’t, thus making a round miserable for myself and my group.

Now, while I’d love this principle to be applied to baseball here in the states…I realize it would never happen because stadiums across the country would be half full and teams would go under.

I don’t however think it’s too much to ask to…oh I don’t know…PAY ATTENTION TO THE FREAK’N GAME WHEN IT’S BEING PLAYED!!!

I love the week-day-day games. It’s gets me out of the office and in front of something that I love. But by far, these games are the ones with the highest percentage of people who have no idea there’s an actual baseball game going on a mere 10 to 40 yards in front of them.

While I hear you Parkside, And I don’t wish serious injury upon anybody…I think for some of these “attendees” the best thing that could happen to them would be to get a non-permanent, non-serious thump from a foul ball to encourage them to pay attention when they’re there.

I got my first and last speeding ticket at age 16…and that was a long, long time ago. I’m not saying…I’m just saying.

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