A scary scene unfolded in the crowd during Monday’s Cubs-Pirates game when a woman was hit in the head with a foul ball in the second inning. The game was halted for 23 minutes as she received medical attention, and the good news is that the unidentified woman was reported to be conscious and alert as she was transported to the hospital from PNC Park. The Pirates announced Tuesday that the woman was released from hospital following standard examinations and that they are “extremely grateful for this positive outcome."
It was a reminder that attending a live sporting event comes with a few inherent risks, and it could serve as the starting point on a discussion about ballpark safety and to what degree fans should be held responsible for what happens when the game makes its way into the stands.
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We've seen fans hit by line drives and bats before, but for a ball to make contact with a fan through the protective netting behind home plate is very unusual. Even if it’s a rare occurrence it still raises the question: is there a better alternative out there to protect spectators sitting behind home plate than the mesh nets currently being used at ballparks across North America? The suggestion to extend the netting on either side has also been made, though that wouldn’t have prevented this specific incident from happening.
So just how much fault should fall on the fan?
A message reminding fans to keep an eye on bats and balls flying into the stands is played before every major league game. There’s even something called "The Baseball Rule" that states fans assume liability when they purchase a ticket for a game and acknowledge all potential dangers that come with being a spectator.
For that reason, there were more than a few unsympathetic people on social media claiming the woman should have been paying attention to the action on the field as the game was in progress. What makes this situation more complicated is that it went down in an area where fans are supposedly protected. Shouldn’t the paying customer reasonably expect the protective netting to, you know, protect them?
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What we do know is that a woman was injured by a foul ball at a baseball game and that’s part of the game we can live without. Between possibly sturdier nets and increased fan awareness during play, we can hope the necessary steps are taken to ensure that what happened Monday in Pittsburgh doesn’t happen again.
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Israel Fehr is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at israelfehr@yahoo.ca or follow him on Twitter. Follow @israelfehr
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