NEWSLETTER
It is galling and depressing that it took what happened to a two-year-old fan in Houston to get the league and its teams more seriously on board with the idea of dramatically increasing safety netting, but thankfully it is coming all around baseball.
The Cubs, for example, announced earlier this year that they were extending the netting at Wrigley Field to the wall elbows in the outfield, which will provide significantly more protection down the lines from foul balls (which are being hit harder than ever into crowds that are engaged by devices more than ever). The changes are important, and reminders are offered in two recent lawsuits the Cubs and MLB are facing about in-park injuries caused by foul balls.
One was just filed on behalf of a woman who was struck at an August 2018 game:
Complaint filed against Cubs, MLB on behalf of fan hit by foul ball https://t.co/9b9XQ24zYs
— Jesse Rogers (@ESPNChiCubs) April 30, 2020
Laiah Zuniga, 28, was sitting in the sixth row at Wrigley Field on Aug. 27, 2018, when she was struck in the face during the fifth inning of a game against the New York Mets, according to the complaint filed in Cook County Circuit Court.
The complaint says Zuniga, who was chatting with a friend at the time she was struck, suffered permanent injuries to her “eyesight, smell, taste and teeth.” She also suffered a spider fracture under both eyes and suffers recurring bloody noses.
The complaint references a similar case, still in litigation, stemming from a 2017 injury.
These kinds of cases are common in professional sports, and historically, leagues and teams have escaped liability on the theory that fans are warned objects may come flying off the field, and they are therefore assuming the risk by attending. It’s a theory that makes a lot of legal sense, but there does come a point at which the risk is simply too much to be considered reasonable – i.e., no one should have to assume that level of risk.
I won’t debate the legal merits here, because I remember enough from my lawyering days to say simply that “it’s complicated.” Instead, I’ll put on my fan safety hat and say that it’s good the league is taking this issue seriously after years of downplaying it, and I very much hope that (1) injured fans are taken care of, and (2) increased protective netting/other safety measures mean the kinds of injuries that underlie these types of lawsuits no longer occur.
With fans unlikely for games this year – if they happen at all at home parks – teams will have even more time to ensure that netting is in place.
