Will this incident finally cause MLB to add greater protection for fans?
On May 30, Albert Almora Jr. did what he has done thousands of times before. He stood 90 feet away from another elite athlete and tried to do the most difficult thing in all of sports... hit a round ball fired at 90 MPH with a round bat. And just like thousands of times before, he made solid contact and hit a screaming line drive. And just like hundreds of times before, the ball went foul. And just like never before (for Almora Jr.) the ball squarely hit and injured a tiny four year old girl.
(Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)
The events of the evening were incredibly shocking as can bee seen in the video below (I promise it is OK to look... in fact it is very important that you do).
That video is why I have hope that this incident may actually spark a change in the name of safety. If that video had shown the poor little girl being hit from every camera angle possible, the average viewer would have to look away. Eventually, it would stop being played altogether. But what that video captured is far more powerful than footage of the actual injury. It showed a tiny glimpse of the possible ramifications of a potentially tragic event (ESPN's Jesse Rogers has reported that the little girl is ok).
Albert Almora Jr. had to face one of the scariest questions anyone ever has to face: "What if?"
What if the ball were a little bit more to the right, left, up or down? Would the girl still be with us today?
What if the child were permanently injured?
What if the ball had hit someone not as resilient as this child?
What if he had to live the rest of his life knowing his actions, although completely unintentional and blameless, ended a life and destroyed a family?
Because of Almora's incredible courage, for the first time in a very long time, I have hope that MLB will actually do something to prevent this in the future. That's right, courage. It is very easy for a person to hide his/her emotions, put on a stiff upper lip and pretend not to be bothered. It takes strength to break down and sob in the arms of a stranger while the eyes of the entire world are on you. Almora could have hid in the clubhouse until his emotions were under control hidden. He could have given cliche answers when asked about the incident. Instead he showed the entire world why MLB should do everything in their power to prevent a real tragedy in the future.
Will this be the image that sparks actual change?
I could not stomach watching a video of a child being struck by a rock hard, rapidly moving projectile. But I can (and will) watch this video. I will show it to my children and explain how strong Almora is for showing his emotion. Many people have already seen this video. I bet many have become teary eyed at the image of Almora slumping into the arms of that random security guard. They will feel empathy for Almora and think, "Oh my gosh. What if he had accidentally killed her. Would he ever be able to sleep again?"
On Friday night, even the fans of the Cubs bitter rival the St. Louis Cardinals showed their appreciation for Almora by applauding for the Cubs outfielder.
Almora has provided video evidence of why a change is needed. Now there is only one more question left to be answered...
What if MLB actually showed it cared about its fans and had safety nets extended to block screaming line drives near foul territory of the first and third base lines?
Ya, or they will just have to have some age limit on certain seats. It is ugly when it happens.
I fear this is one of those insurance adjuster situations where someone is sitting with a calculator figuring out the cost of nets vs the amount paid out in lawsuits.
Ya, definitely all about the dollars
Many stadiums have increased their netting in the last year or two. My team has it going way down the line now.
Common sense is winning!
I really hope this kid is OK. A few years ago, I went to a spring training game and sat on the first base side of home plate. The net behind home was tiny and it didn't reach that far, so sitting there was scary as hell. Since then, if I go to a game, I actually check the stadium layout and make sure that either I'm behind the net (if sitting near home) or high up enough where there are pop ups but no line drives.
Considering the human eye/brain is simply amazing and will automatically ignore the net after a few seconds, this seems like an absolute no-brainer. But at my age it seems I look around every day and shake my head at all the "no-brainers" that no one is spending any brainpower on.
Great point. I guess human stubborness is universal and most of the time a tragedy has to happen for some measure to be taken (except with fire arms, I guess).
I have always been intrigued by the lack of safety in baseball stadiums. Something can also be done in basketball courts.
They have the experts, the money and the suport of fans to do whatever they wish to guarantee safety and the full enjoyment of the game. Why they have to wait for a tragedy to hit is beyond me.
Thank goodness it was not the case for this little girl. But, neither the fans nor the players deserve the shock.
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