Yankees shaken by little girl hit by line drive in Houston

Just two years after a 2-year-old girl was struck by a foul ball at Yankee Stadium, resulting in multiple facial fractures, several Yankees called for more protective netting to be installed following the latest incident in Houston.

On Wednesday night in Houston, Albert Almora Jr. of the Cubs hit a line drive into the left-field stands that struck a 4-year-old girl. Although the netting at Minute Maid Park meets MLB guidelines (reaches the end of both dugouts), several Yankees, as well as manager Aaron Boone want more to be done to ensure the safety of fans.

Boone spoke with Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News, and as a former player, and more importantly, a father, Boone believes MLB needs to implement even more protective netting.

"“Yeah, that’s something going back to my playing days, a handful times a year, you have that scary moment,” the Yankee manager said. “When my wife and I started having kids, first time they were at a park was make sure you are sitting in a (good) place, make sure you are paying attention or you are protected. It can be a scary situation. I think it’s important we do all we can to make sure we protect our fans.”"

Almora Jr., the father of two young boys, was visibly shaken as he watched the crying girl being carried away by the man she was with (presumably her father).

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Somehow, Almora Jr. finished his at-bat (a strikeout) but needed to be consoled by teammate Jason Heyward after the completion of the fourth inning.

As the young girl recovers in a Houston area hospital, Major League Baseball is again under the microscope for not doing enough to create a safe environment for fans to attend games.

The days of PA Announcers merely making the crowd aware that bats and balls ‘may’ fly into the stands, is no longer valid.

Sure, there’s a particular faction of fans that won’t want anymore netting installed, because it takes away from the natural look of the game. But times have changed. With more and more people distracted by cell phones, let alone kids that are taken out to ballgames just cause, when will MLB insist that netting runs the length of both foul lines?

Statcast estimated that the ball off of Almora Jr’s bat traveled 160 feet in 1.2 seconds. That results in 90 mph. I don’t care how old you are, getting hit by a baseball with that type of force hurts. For a child, it could cause both mental and physical harm.

That’s not fair, especially when the cost of a single ticket to a ballgame was $76 in 2018, according to Barry’s Tickets. 

Less than a year after a 79-year-old Dodgers fan passed away after being hit in the head by a foul ball, and two, since a man was blinded while attending a game at Wrigley Field, Bloomberg estimates that 1,750 fans are injured by foul balls each season. That’s almost two injuries for every three games.

Professional netting costs anywhere from $8,000 to $12,000 for 60 feet — which for a $10 billion industry, is small potatoes.

Brendan Kuty of NJ.com interviewed a handful of Yankees, all of whom would be in favor of bettering the current safety measures in place.

"Reliever Zack Britton wouldn’t mind of stadiums went “all the way” with protective netting, extending it down each foul line. Third baseman Gio Urshela said he wants it “around the whole stadium.” Outfielder Cameron Maybin said to install what’s needed, and then go farther. “More than necessary,” Maybin said."