To Whit Merrifield, its a no-brainer.
Terrance Gore wishes the Major League Baseball powers-that-be would just freaking prevent it.
To Nicky Lopez, the Royals rookie infielder who fouled off a pitch with the Triple-A Omaha Stormchasers last season and hit a young fan, its a shame.
Among the Royals players themselves, this is the consensus: To protect fans from foul balls and shards of broken bats, MLB teams should extend the protective safety netting from the edge of the dugouts all the way down to each foul pole. Some clubs, like the Chicago White Sox and Washington Nationals, recently announced plans to do so.
It all revolves around safety. In late May, a foul ball hit by Chicago Cubs outfielder Albert Almora Jr. in Houston struck a 2-year old girl, who suffered a fractured skull, subdural bleeding, brain contusions and a brain edema, according to CNN. Last season in Los Angeles, 79-year-old Dodgers fan Linda Goldbloom was hit in the head by a foul ball and died four days later from her injuries.
As such extreme cases make headlines, players and some fans alike have begun pushing clubs to take more preventative safety measures.
At Kansas Citys Kauffman Stadium, sections unprotected by the current netting, leaving fans exposed to line-drive foul balls, include Nos. 110-116 down the third-base line. Thats where McMinnville, Oregon native Judy Dunn was sitting for Tuesdays Royals game.
She said she would feel safer if the net was strung to the foul pole. Sean Martin, a St. Louis native who was sitting in a similar seat on the first-base line, agreed, adding that its better to be proactive than reactive.
The problem, at least in terms of architecture: Its not always that easy.
Royals vice president of publicity Toby Cook said the team has no plans at this time to change the netting in the near future. Doing so, he said, might obstruct fans views because the netting would need to be strung at a higher angle, rather than at eye-level, where many fans currently see it.
Plus, all of those cables that hold it up, Cook said, you can see it extending it right up to that side. To extend it any further, you might have cables going all over the place. So its under review at this point.
Per league rules, the Royals have done whats currently advised and are free to make their own decisions on the netting. Every team is. In 2015, Kansas City obliged MLBs recommendation not a mandate to extend the netting out to the end of each dugout in advance of the 2016 season.
Cook said the Royals were one of the first teams to comply. Every team did eventually, but at many venues, the move only lengthened the netting some 70 feet in each direction.
The result: Scores of fans seated along each baseline remain vulnerable to hard-hit foul balls. According to MLB Statcast, most balls come off bats in the mid-90 mph range. In part, thats why several Royals players said they wish clubs would extend their stadiums netting.
Take it from Royals third baseman Hunter Dozier, who mans what is colloquially known as the hot corner. Hes more than used to dealing with screaming line drives and ground balls hit in his direction.
I have trouble getting out of the way of some balls, and I do this for a living, Dozier said. Those balls are coming at me hot, and I dont expect (fans) to get out of the way or even see every single ball that gets put in the play.
Merrifield said he feels the same.
Its a shame, because (mishaps are) preventable, Merrifield said. Its a freak accident, you could say at the time, but its preventable. I dont understand why teams are dragging their feet about it. So its frustrating for us as players. Id like to see it change.
