A woman was struck by an Eloy Jiménez foul ball during Monday’s game in Chicago between the Nationals and White Sox. According to Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times, the woman was able to leave the stadium under her own power and was taken to a hospital for observation.
This incident occurs just two weeks after a child was injured by a foul ball in Houston during a game between the Cubs and Astros. Outfielder Albert Almora, who hit the foul ball, was visibly upset. He and teammate Kris Bryant called for more protective netting around the ballpark.
Last week, commissioner Rob Manfred said he doesn’t expect teams to extend netting during the season, the Associated Press reported. He said, “It’s very difficult given how far the clubs have gone with the netting to make changes during the year, because they really are structural issues. But, because safety is so important, I’m sure that conversation will begin and continue into the offseason.”
In the meantime, the league will continue to promote exit velocity and utilize all kinds of distractions at the stadium as players hit baseballs harder than they ever have before, and fans are left defenseless. All stadiums in Japan have protective netting all the way down the foul lines and fans don’t even notice it. The most expensive seats at all MLB parks are already behind netting. The players want more netting. Seems like a pretty simple fix, really.