Red Sox: A Classless organization?

[Deleted]

Last evening, a horrific event occurred at Fenway Park. A women, who was seated next to her child, was struck by a broken bat, after a player lost control of his swing. The bat struck the poor woman, and now she is in life threatening condition.



The Red Sox have not released any type of statement whatsoever. On twitter, the official Red Sox account sends at least a dozen tweets, about the game, updates of the score, etc. Nothing about a women that is in critical condition, while her poor son had to endure the whole episode. Classless organization?

[Bruinsfan]

Or they are respecting the woman privacy in a time of need? rather than making it about themselves.

She got treatment immediately, they responded quickly to the situation.


Are we at the point we are calling teams classless because of their twitter account.


They have no duty to release a statement and there has been no update that I know of about how she is doing. What I do know is that she was struck in maybe the best medical city in north america.

The red sox have no duty to release a statement, especially through their twitter account which is really only used to update on the games.


they will release a statement eventually

[Bruinsfan]

[Bruinsfan]

should they stop tweeting the game?

[Deleted]

Jun 6, 2015 13:52:34 GMT -6 Bruinsfan said:

should they stop tweeting the game?

Well I'm glad the finally issued a statement. Just seems weird that the Sox organization was well aware of the magnitude of the situation, yet it took them nearly a day to release a statement. MLB needs nets behind home plate, just like the NHL.

Well at least she is going to survive:

espn.go.com/boston/mlb/story/_/id/13024139/woman-injured-boston-red-sox-game-serious-condition?ex_cid=sportscenterTW

However, there have been deaths in the minor league, due to injuries sustained from foul balls or broken bats. I hope the MLB wises up, and introduces some kind of safety measures to prevent this from happening again. The NHL did in 2002.

[maniaaron]

lost control it's a broken bat.

[Deleted]

Sept. 9 (Bloomberg) -- From his perch in the Atlanta Braves infield on May 20, third baseman Chris Johnson heard what sounded to him like the crack of two bats in quick succession. The first was a line drive off the bat of Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Carlos Gomez. The second was the ball smashing into the head of an 8-year-old in black shorts and a blue shirt, who was seated in the first row behind first base.
Johnson watched as the boy’s father and a stadium first-aid crew carried him away. After the game, Johnson and catcher Gerald Laird, toting an autographed bat and ball, visited the hospital, where the boy, barely awake, was hooked up to monitors and an intravenous drip.
“It was just a little kid, man,” Johnson said. “It happens every game -- somebody gets hit. Whether it’s a bad one or not, somebody gets hit in the stands every single game.”
Johnson isn’t far off. About 1,750 spectators get hurt each year by batted balls, mostly fouls, at major-league games, or at least twice every three games, a first-of-its-kind analysis by Bloomberg News has found. That’s more often than a batter is hit by a pitch, which happened 1,536 times last season, according to Elias Sports Bureau Inc. The 8-year-old boy was one of four fans injured at the May 20 game, according to a “foul-ball log” and other first-aid records at the Braves’ Turner Field.
Unlike the National Hockey League, which mandated netting behind the goal line and higher Plexiglas above the side boards after a teenage fan was hit by a puck and died in 2002, Major League Baseball has done little to reduce the risk. Its policy is that each team is responsible for spectator safety.

www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-09-09/baseball-caught-looking-as-fouls-injure-1750-fans-a-year

I should not have singled out the Red Sox. MLB is classless for not installing netting, when this is a huge problem. It's a good thing the NHL cares about the safety of it's fans.

[Bruinsfan]

They have nets behind the plate, this was on the baselines.

[Deleted]

They should install netting from one dugout to the other. 1,750 injured fans a year is too many.

[phillymike]

Jun 7, 2015 21:51:09 GMT -6 @hannujarvenpaa said:

They should install netting from one dugout to the other. 1,750 injured fans a year is too many.

Not sure about that number. Definitely inflated. I've read somewhere that the number you are searching for, hovers around 300.

1 MLB fan death in 150 years.

Alan Fish; Dodgers Stadium 1970

I hope the woman makes a full recovery, but IMO this was just a freak accident.

Maybe MLB will do something to cover their butts.
They already have a disclaimer on the back of the tickets.
Here's an example;

cleveland.indians.mlb.com/cle/ballpark/information/index.jsp?content=ticket_back_language

[Deleted]

Jun 8, 2015 9:59:48 GMT -6 phillymike said:

Jun 7, 2015 21:51:09 GMT -6 @hannujarvenpaa said:

They should install netting from one dugout to the other. 1,750 injured fans a year is too many.

Not sure about that number. Definitely inflated. I've read somewhere that the number you are searching for, hovers around 300.

1 MLB fan death in 150 years.

Alan Fish; Dodgers Stadium 1970

I hope the woman makes a full recovery, but IMO this was just a freak accident.

Maybe MLB will do something to cover their butts.
They already have a disclaimer on the back of the tickets.
Here's an example;

cleveland.indians.mlb.com/cle/ballpark/information/index.jsp?content=ticket_back_language

Why would you say that it's inflated. Can you disprove the article?

The disclaimer does not matter. It's definitely not a freak accident, according to actual statistics. This is about doing the right thing, not about lawsuits. If the MLB cared about it's customers, they would expand the netting. Why are Americans so obsessed about lawsuits anyway?

[Deleted]

When foul balls become lethal projectiles, fans are mostly unprotected
April 20, 2008
By Dave Anderson

Alarms went off last season. A minor league first-base coach, Mike Coolbaugh, was killed by a foul ball. The St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Juan Encarnación may never play again after having been struck in his left eye with a foul ball while in the on-deck circle. Some baseball people heard those alarms. First- and third-base coaches must wear helmets now, and at Busch Stadium in St. Louis the screen behind home plate now extends from dugout to dugout, although the on-deck circles there remain unprotected.

But in the big picture, baseball is ignoring those alarms - the big picture that includes all those fans in unprotected seats near the dugouts and the foul lines where line-drive foul balls can be lethal projectiles. Baseball is hiding behind the 145-word "warning" on the back of every ticket that reads, in part, "The bearer of the Ticket assumes all risk and danger incidental to the sport of baseball ... including specifically (but not exclusively) the danger of being injured by thrown bats, fragments thereof, and thrown or batted balls." In other words, if you are injured by a ball or a bat, you can't sue the teams, the players or Major League Baseball (or minor league baseball, for that matter).

You can go to the first-aid room or to a hospital, but you can't sue. And you cannot know how many fans need first aid from batted or thrown balls. The commissioner's office has no central file on injured fans. As line-drive foul balls keep whistling into those unprotected seats, baseball people hold their breath and hold on to this statistic: There has been only one death as a result of a batted ball in major league history. In 1970, a 14-year-old boy died after being hit in the head by a foul ball off the bat of the Dodgers outfielder Manny Mota in Los Angeles.

But according to the coming book "Death at the Ballpark," written by Robert Gorman and David Weeks, more than 75 deaths have been caused by foul balls from the major leagues to the sandlots. So the danger exists, and with box seats in the new stadiums closer to the field, the danger increases. Japan has the solution. As was visible when the Red Sox and the Athletics opened the season there, protective screens rise along the front-row boxes all the way to the outfield walls.

When Commissioner Bud Selig was asked, in a telephone interview from his office in Milwaukee, if similar protective screens had ever been discussed by major league owners, he said the sentiment over the years was that the fans' view of the game would be obstructed. Yet nobody seems to object to the view from behind the screen and netting behind home plate. Many fans prefer to sit there. Families of players and team personnel are usually placed there. In a sampling of about a dozen fans in the unprotected areas and under the screen behind home plate at Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium last week, the breakdown was about half for the status quo and half for more screening or netting.

"I got hit by a baseball right in the head in '03, but I still think it would take away from the game to have the screens up," said Paul Bastkowski, a fan sitting behind first base at Yankee Stadium with his 9-year-old daughter. "You've got to be alert, and you have to understand the risk." At Shea Stadium, Alan Salen, a fan sitting behind third base with his 7-year-old son, said that being hit by a foul ball was "always a fear."

"That's why I make sure I'm sitting to his right," he said, referring to his son. "You want to be kid friendly, and I can't think of any other way to do it except putting the net up."

Hardly anybody protested when the National Hockey League put up netting around the goal areas at each rink in 2002, after 13-year-old Brittanie Cecil became the first fan killed by a puck in the league's history. She was struck in the head by a deflected puck during a game in Columbus, Ohio, and died two days later. At both New York baseball stadiums, players and coaches in the dugout are protected by screens, installed after Don Zimmer, then a Yankees coach, was struck on the side of his face by a foul ball during a 1999 playoff game against Texas.

Rushed to the trainer's room in the Yankee clubhouse, Zimmer was being comforted when, as he recalled in his book, "Zim," he heard the principal owner, George Steinbrenner, order a shield for the dugout, saying, "We can't have guys getting hurt like this." The next day Zimmer wore an army helmet in the dugout as Joe Torre's bench coach. But there is still no shield for all those sitting behind the dugouts. Selig promised to "bring it up and talk about it" - additional screens or netting for the fans - at the owners meeting next month. But do not merely talk about it. Do something about it.

Baseball does not need another black eye. Or worse, a black hearse.

www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/sports/20iht-BASE.1.12164014.html?_r=0

[phillymike]

Jun 8, 2015 14:53:25 GMT -6 @hannujarvenpaa said:

Jun 8, 2015 9:59:48 GMT -6 phillymike said:

Not sure about that number. Definitely inflated. I've read somewhere that the number you are searching for, hovers around 300.

1 MLB fan death in 150 years.

Alan Fish; Dodgers Stadium 1970

I hope the woman makes a full recovery, but IMO this was just a freak accident.

Maybe MLB will do something to cover their butts.
They already have a disclaimer on the back of the tickets.
Here's an example;

cleveland.indians.mlb.com/cle/ballpark/information/index.jsp?content=ticket_back_language

Why would you say that it's inflated. Can you disprove the article?

The disclaimer does not matter. It's definitely not a freak accident, according to actual statistics. This is about doing the right thing, not about lawsuits. If the MLB cared about it's customers, they would expand the netting. Why are Americans so obsessed about lawsuits anyway?

im a bit wary when reading a "first of it's kind analysts" being thrown out there by Bloomberg News trying to hammer their point home, but not providing how their "first of it's kind analysts " was performed. No big deal.

The disclaimer does matter. That's why it's there.

What actual statistics are being used when you state a woman getting hit in the head by a broken bat to the extent it's life threatening is not a freak accident?

How is the netting set up for the Goldeyes? I can't remember, and haven't been there this year yet?

[Deleted]

Jun 8, 2015 16:52:30 GMT -6 phillymike said:

Jun 8, 2015 14:53:25 GMT -6 @hannujarvenpaa said:

Why would you say that it's inflated. Can you disprove the article?

The disclaimer does not matter. It's definitely not a freak accident, according to actual statistics. This is about doing the right thing, not about lawsuits. If the MLB cared about it's customers, they would expand the netting. Why are Americans so obsessed about lawsuits anyway?

im a bit wary when reading a "first of it's kind analysts" being thrown out there by Bloomberg News trying to hammer their point home, but not providing how their "first of it's kind analysts " was performed. No big deal.

The disclaimer does matter. That's why it's there.

What actual statistics are being used when you state a woman getting hit in the head by a broken bat to the extent it's life threatening is not a freak accident?

How is the netting set up for the Goldeyes? I can't remember, and haven't been there this year yet?

The disclaimer, in the grand picture, does not matter. I've never understood the mentality of many Americans, where they seem to think the issue is whether or not to sue. In Canada, people do not sue others left, right, and centre. The issue is safety.

Well I base my argument on facts, like the link I provided. If you can't counter that with proven facts disproving the argument, then there is really no point in debating. Besides, this is about the safety of the fans. Since the NHL introduced the safety netting, spectator injuries have been reduced drastically. It won't prevent all injuries, but preventing the vast majority of sporting related injuries to spectators, is not only good business sense (it saves money in the long run), but it is the right thing to do.

resources.netting.com/blog/netting-reduces-spectator-risks-at-sporting-events


The majority of injuries involve facial or head trauma from direct contact with a hit baseball. Injuries from objects other than baseballs, such as fractured baseball bats that go into the stands, are less frequently described but equally serious. At a professional baseball game in Canada, a 39-year-old woman was struck by a bat while sitting in the third row. The woman required 11 days of hospitalization for unknown injuries.[6] Most injuries suffered by fans involve the head and maxillofacial region which makes sense given that the head and face are the most exposed areas.

[Deleted]

Study from Japan:

The Meiji Jingu Baseball Stadium attracts a large number of spectators in the Tokyo metropolitan area. To clarify the demand for medical care at a public ballpark, we analyzed following two types of medical records maintained at the stadium: (1) "Report of Aid": a record of patients visiting the first-aid station in 2003 season and (2) "Report of Accidents": a record of patients referred to clinics/hospitals between 1996 and 2003 season.

(1) In 2003, approximately 1,582,000 spectators watched 67 professional baseball games (60 night games). Of the 247 spectators received medical care at the first-aid station (3.7 persons per game, 1/6,405 spectators), 128 (51.8%) had trauma and 109 (44.1%) had illness. The incidence of trauma was relatively higher before the start and near the end of the night games. The risk of becoming sick/wounded per spectator or the number of the sick/wounded per game differed depending on the participating sports teams.

(2) Ninety-three spectators referred to clinics/hospitals during the 8-year period from 1996 to 2003, of which 57 were transferred by ambulance. Direct ball injury accounted for 65 (69.9%) cases of trauma, followed by stumbling/falls (18 cases, 19.4%). Twenty patients were diagnosed to have fractures at the clinics/hospitals. Intrinsic cardiopulmonary arrest occurred in one spectator. Trauma due to direct ball injury accounted for the largest number of wounded patients referred to clinics/hospitals. Treatment to patients at the first-aid station in the stadium may optimize the frequency of hospital visits. Records of medical care are effective to analyze the demand for medical preparedness.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17906419

1,582,000 spectators / 247 injuries = 1 in 6,404 chance of being injured at a baseball game.

That may seem low, but considering the average attendance this year is around 30,000 people per game, there is likely to be nearly five people injured by projectiles (foul balls, bats, etc.) per game:

30,000/6,404 = 4.68 spectators injured during the average MLB game.

That is too high, and should be reduced. The NHL dramatically reduced spectator injuries, by installing netting. Why can't the MLB do the same?