Foul Ball Safety Now Calls for Senate Investigation into Fan Injury Crisis

This week, as Major League Baseball team owners convene for winter meetings in Nashville (Dec 3-6), Foul Ball Safety Now is calling on the U.S. Senate to investigate and immediately intervene to stop the ongoing crisis of foul ball fan injuries.

“It is time for Washington to regulate this reckless industry, which has proven incapable of stopping serious fan injuries, despite the availability of affordable and effective solutions. MLB has a 50-year nonstop legacy of allowing preventable injuries to fans due to its blatant disregard for our health and safety,” according to Jordan Skopp, founder of FoulBallSafetyNow.com.

An adult fan was blinded in one eye by a line-drive foul ball at a Pittsburgh Pirates game in July, proving that the safety threat continues in MLB stadiums after the league claims it had increased netting protection in recent years.

The situation in the minor leagues remains incredibly dangerous for fans despite an agreement — brokered by U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin and announced at last year’s winter meetings — to require extended netting throughout the Professional Development League, but without enforcement until opening day of the 2025 season.

“Why did Sen. Durbin find it acceptable that professional baseball would continue to play Russian roulette with fans in the stands for two full seasons before enforcing an overdue safety fix?” asks Skopp.

Two small children were critically injured by foul balls at minor league ballparks during the 2023 season. 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. There may well have been more injuries to children that weren’t reported, as well as adults.

“How many more broken toddler skulls and crushed eye sockets will America tolerate while professional baseball kicks the can down the road?” asks Skopp.

At least 43 PDL ballparks operated with no netting past the ends of the dugouts in 2023, according to an analysis by Foul Ball Safety Now.

“Look at the MLB balance sheet. Surely the league has the resources to quickly fix this problem, not only in all 30 MLB stadiums, but throughout all professional baseball facilities, including the minor league affiliate ballparks and Spring Training facilities,” Skopp argues.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred long refused to issue a mandate requiring extended netting league-wide, leaving it up to each MLB team to decide how far and how high their netting goes. Despite multiple lawsuits filed by injured fans, including one ongoing in Peoria, IL where one of the young children was hit this summer, there remain far too many ballparks where a fan could be seriously injured or killed by foul balls.

“Before the 2024 season is allowed to commence, Washington must step in and hold MLB accountable. MLB claims it has studied this issue in depth. Congress and the public need to see that data and judge for ourselves how responsibly (or not) MLB is addressing this ongoing fan safety threat.”

“Knowing that the solution is readily at hand, and that netting installations take days not years, there is no excuse for anything but maximum safety assurance before any pitches are thrown in 2024. MLB keeps balking, and it’s time for regulators in Washington to hold them accountable now,” Skopp said.

For more information, visit 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/