Safety advocate continues to call for protective measures at baseball games

Jordan Skopp, founder of the Foul Ball Safety Now! campaign that is urging MLB to add more protective netting at its games, was troubled by what he heard coming out of the negotiations between MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Association during the league’s lockout.

Or rather, by what he did not hear.

There was plenty of talk about luxury taxes, service time and various other issues during the 99-day lockout, which ended Thursday afternoon. What Skopp and others in his campaign wanted to hear more about, however, was how MLB plans to protect its fans when the games begin in the major and minor leagues this spring.

Skopp, a Brooklyn-based realtor who roots for the New York Mets, has spent years advocating for MLB to install more netting in stadiums to protect fans from being seriously injured by foul balls hit into the stands. He has compiled research and tried to contact officials in baseball and also politicians regarding the issue. Skopp does not mince words and says it is unacceptable that MLB continues to run the risk of allowing its fans to be seriously injured by foul balls.

“You would think the Major League Baseball owners would say, ‘We cannot allow our employees to hit baseballs that crush the heads of baseball fans,’” Skopp told The Japan Times. “And on the other side, we have the players union, which represents the rank-and-file of all the players. Why would they allow their rank-and-file to go to work knowing that one of their members, sooner rather than later, could crush the head of a baseball fan?”

The issue of foul balls rocketing into the stands and causing injury is hardly a new one. Alan Fish, a 14-year-old boy, died after being struck by a foul ball while attending a game at Dodger Stadium in 1970. In 2018, 79-year-old Linda Goldbloom died as a result of being hit by a ball at the same venue.

There have been many other instances of fans being struck, though no reported deaths, in the years between those tragedies.

An investigation by U.S. television network NBC reported that over 800 fans were injured by balls during MLB games from 2012 to 2019. That report was focused only on MLB, meaning it did not account for incidents at minor league parks.

Skopp, in addition to petitioning MLB owners, says he has also taken the campaign to extend netting to stadium operators in the minors.

“I did a survey about a year ago at this time where I called 100 minor league ballparks,” he said. “I found out at least 42 still had no nets past dugouts. Where do things get crushed, including children? Past the end of dugouts.”

In 2019, MLB announced all 30 clubs would add more protective netting before the 2020 season. Skopp, however, is not yet satisfied with the league’s efforts.

He’s been working on getting the word out to the public whenever he can through his campaign.

He called a news conference early last year to allow victims to tell their stories and is working on a book about the issue in which he promises more testimonials.

“The evidence file is getting thicker by the day,” he said.

In June 2021, Skopp hired a plane to circle Dozer Park in Peoria, Illinois, while flying a banner that read in part, “Wake up Dozer! Nets!,” before a minor league game.

In addition to his frustration over MLB’s lack of action, Skopp also feels media members should speak up.

“Nobody has resigned from baseball or from baseball writing,” he said. “I’m not saying it’s just the writers. It could be the broadcasters, it’s the players, it’s the owners. Those are the four major groups that clearly should have expressed themselves enough.

“They probably have some conversation with their family on where to sit as the baseball players do.”

As Skopp followed the MLB negotiations, he lamented the lack of progress that has been made to protect fans since even before he took up the cause, but vowed to keep advocating, even if little was gained during baseball’s recent labor talks.

“Fifty-two years later, we’re still in the same place,” Skopp said. “Almost 52 years since Alan Fish.”

Source : Baseball – The Japan Times