Foul Ball Suit Seeks More Protection for Baseball Fans

By Robert Burnson | July 14, 2015

  • July 15, 2015 at 7:56 am
    DW says:
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    Maybe if everyone put down their phones and watched the game that they paid to see, there wouldn’t be so many incidents. I hope this doesn’t become another example of how lawsuits ruin America.

  • July 15, 2015 at 8:24 pm
    FoulBallz says:
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    I’ve read through the brief several times for my site, FoulBallz.com, to write a few blog posts showing the serious flaws in the brief’s claims. It’s full of misinformation, bad and outdated stats and scare tactics. Considering it was brought about by a “Gail Payne” who claims to be a 50 year fan of the Athletics, and has, by her own admission, gone to many games and knows of the dangers, this is at best a frivolous suit.

    Add that the attorneys use INCORRECT data–such as on Section I.2 where it reads”In a typical MLB game, 35-40 batted balls fly into the stands”–and this is just plain silly. It’s a shame the attorneys didn’t ask me the true data. Historically, there are roughly 46-47 foul balls PER GAME. The fact is there are roughly 30 (THIRTY) balls that go into the stands during a game. Nearly HALF of these balls are tossed up by players or ball retrieval personnel. They don’t “FLY” into the stands. This means that the attorney nearly DOUBLED the true number that “fly” into the stands.

    Furthermore, if MLB put up netting, it would become a zoo attraction, not a spectator sport.

    I had written a letter regarding this netting issue to Commissioner Manfred and the new MLB General Counsel two Mondays ago. I am hoping to hear from them and what they think of my suggestions to maintain the integrity of the game while improving safety.

    If you haven’t read this brief, you should. Your jaw will drop too.

  • July 16, 2015 at 12:39 pm
    WD Bankart says:
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    Unfortunately, hockey has already gone this route with netting stretched above the glass around both ends of the rink where hockey pucks are most likely to fly into the seats. It is very annoying. Baseball already has the netting directly behind homeplate but to carry it down both sides along the baselines is going to severely detract from the game. Oh my, Oh my. Say it ain’t so.



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