The New York Yankees are among the baseball teams who are not extending their protective netting despite a little girl being struck by a ball at their stadium.
The two-year-old girl was hit in the face by a ball traveling at 105mph during a game between the New York Yankees and the Minnesota Twins.
In the hours after the girl was struck the game’s commissioner vowed to push harder for all teams to extend protective netting to the end of the dugouts.
The two-year-old girl is carried out of Yankee Stadium after being hit with a ball during a game against the Minnesota Twins
About a third of the 30 major league teams – but not the Yankees – have at the commissioner’s urging extended the netting to at least the far end of the dugout.
Cincinnati Reds and San Diego Padres committed to do just that by next year.
The line drive off the bat of Yankees slugger Todd Frazier on Wednesday hit the girl in the face in less than a second, and the game came to a halt as she was treated in the stands.
Frazier and other players from the Yankees and Minnesota Twins kneeled in prayer, and many fans were in stunned silence or in tears.
The toddler remains in hospital after the incident and her father has urged people to ‘keep her in your thoughts’
The toddler remained hospitalized Thursday and soon after she was hit her father said: ‘She’s doing all right. Just keep her in your thoughts.’
In a statement Thursday, Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred called the events ‘extremely upsetting’.
‘Over the past few seasons MLB has worked with our clubs to expand the amount of netting in our ballparks,’ he said.
‘In light of yesterday’s event, we will redouble our efforts on this important issue.’
Several legal observers of baseball, which has long been shielded from lawsuits over fan injuries, saw it as a potential game changer.
‘America’s pastime is breaking America’s heart. That little girl, that’s everyone’s daughter,’ said lawyer Bob Hilliard, who represents fans in a California lawsuit that seeks class action status to sue on behalf of 1,750 fans hit by balls and bats at games each year.
Fans watch a game behind protective netting during a game between the Yankee’s rivals, the New York Met, and the Colorado Rockies
U.S. Senator. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, told Manfred in a letter to push to extend safety netting from 10 to all 30 ballparks.
On a visit to the Padres, Manfred said he was encouraged by the number of conversations MLB had with clubs on Thursday about adding additional netting for 2018.
Among them were the Padres, who said they will extend netting to the end of each dugout by opening day.
‘I think by redoubling I mean continuing to focus and conversations with the clubs to get them to make decisions that make sense in their local markets and given the configurations of their ballparks,’ Manfred said.
‘I think probably the best concrete evidence of redoubling is the number of conversations that took place between my office and individual clubs on this topic.’
Minnesota Twins’ Joe Mauer hits the ball during the game against the New York Yankees. On the back of game tickets there is a disclaimer about being hit by a ball
Most of the fans struck by balls and bats at games each year suffer minor injuries, but a few have been critically injured or killed.
The more tragic results include a 14-year-old boy who died four days after he was hit on the left side of his head at Dodger Stadium in May 1970 and a 39-year-old woman who died a day after she was struck in the temple by a foul ball at a San Angelo Colts game in 2010.
The fine print on every baseball ticket comes with a disclaimer that the bearer ‘assumes all risk and danger incidental to the game’.
Dina Simpson, a Chardon, Ohio, mother of three young children, said she permanently lost one eye sight after she was struck by a baseball in May at a minor league game in Eastlake, Ohio.
‘They have the Baseball Rule. They think this happens, you can’t sue us, have a nice day. It’s sickening. It’s absolutely sickening,’ she said.
‘I’m praying for that little girl. It’s heartbreaking and it’s preventable.’