World Series 2023 is the right time for federal regulators to finally investigate what Major League Baseball knows about the risks of foul balls and why baseball hasn’t taken action to stop fan injuries and deaths.
As baseball season comes to an end, the watchdog group Foul Ball Safety Now is calling for a federal investigation into the conduct of Major League Baseball, and for the creation of an emergency netting council to address ongoing foul ball threats to fan safety in professional ballparks across America.
After another season which saw little children hospitalized in critical condition from foul balls crashing into the stands, it is imperative that Major League Baseball take action during the off-season to ensure that serious injuries can no longer occur. It is unacceptable for MLB to allow another full year of games at the major and minor league levels before mandating fully upgraded netting that eliminates the risk of dangerous foul balls reaching fans in the stands.
A fan was blinded by a foul ball at a Pittsburgh Pirates game on July 1. A child suffered a serious head injury in Peoria, IL, on July 28 at Dozer Park, home of the Peoria Chiefs, who continue to play with no netting above the dugouts. A 3-week-old baby suffered a fractured skull and bleeding on the brain from a foul ball at a Hickory Crawdads minor league game on August 25.
“Regulators should get involved immediately,” said Jordan Skopp, founder of FoulBallSafetyNow.com. “Children almost died this summer, and MLB didn’t even comment on it. And nobody else asked them about it or raised their own voice. That’s unacceptable.”
“I’ve been sounding the alarm for several years. Please, regulators it’s time to step in and take action. There needs to be a federal investigation into the continuation of the foul ball maiming crisis affecting children,” Skopp said.
The absence of mandatory netting standards to protect fans has left each professional baseball team on its own to decide — or ignore responsibilities — about netting conditions. The lack of league mandates or external government interventions has led to complacency and inaction, leading to further preventable injuries.
Foul Ball Safety Now spoke this month with the general counsel of the St. Louis Cardinals, who told us that it is up to us, not the Cardinals, to find out whether the Peoria Chiefs will have extended netting in place before the 2024 season.
“Why isn’t it appropriate for the public to ask MLB teams to accept responsibility and demonstrate leadership to fix an ongoing fan safety problem in all their ballparks, including their minor league affiliates?,” asks Jordan Skopp, founder of Foul Ball Safety Now. “Without the ongoing support of players in the minor league system, there wouldn’t be a future for the Cardinals. So it’s entirely appropriate to ask the MLB parent teams to pay attention and take responsibility for their minor league affiliates’ ballpark safety.”
“Baseball knows year after year about these foreseeable horrors and keeps it to themselves. Families are left in the dark until the next guaranteed crushing comes again,” Skopp said.
For more information, visit https://www.foulballsafetynow.com/
About Foul Ball Safety Now
Foul Ball Safety Now! is a campaign started by Jordan Skopp, a Brooklyn realtor, lifelong baseball fan, and author of a forthcoming book about the wildly overlooked scandal in the professional baseball industry – the all-too-frequent incidence of fans being maimed by dangerous foul balls due to the lack of extended protective netting, and related failures to educate fans about their assumed risk at the ballgame. For more information, visit Foul Ball Safety Now https://www.foulballsafetynow.com/