After numerous injuries caused by ghost ball supporters, the MLB is reviewing the protection project: NPR

Albert Almora Jr., center player of the Chicago Cubs, dropped to one knee in the fourth inning last May, hand on his face with horror. He had just watched a flying ball take off his bat and hit a 2-year-old girl's head, fracturing her skull.

The incident, the nightmare of every baseball hitter, was not unique. Last month, a fan was hit during a Chicago White Sox match and another at a Los Angeles Dodgers game.

Last year, a 79-year-old woman died as a result of a balloon that flew over the net behind the marble Dodger Stadium.

This season has been marked by a number of gunshot wounds, reviving the debate on the opportunity to extend the safety net in baseball stadiums.

Kris Bryant, Almora's teammate on the Cubs, wants to see more precautions taken.

"It's so sad," Bryant told an ESPN reporter after the May 29 game at Minute Maid Park. "I do not know what we can do, let's just set up gates around the field … I think any security measures we can take to make sure the fans are safe, we should do it."

Bryant is not the only one to take the call. Other players and supporters have called for more security, especially after the death of the crazy ball in 2018, the MLB's first for nearly 50 years.

Although big balls are not new, the playing conditions have changed. The players are more powerful, the seats are closer and the fans can be more distracted.

John Eric Goff, professor of physics at the University of Lynchburg, studies sports science. He thinks the current net is insufficient.

"It takes a second to balloon to cover 130 feet," Goff said, "and that's just the net in many major baseball parks."

Dina Simpson remembers the night she was injured during a minor league game of Lake County Captains in Ohio, sitting right behind the stadium's safety net with her children and her husband.

"Me too, I thought:" Oh, if a bullet comes to meet me, I'm just going to catch him or the duck, "he said. said Simpson, "but in this moment of chaos, your brain does not even deal with what happens before that bullet has come to you."

Her husband shouted for her to stoop, but she could not react in time. She says that she can no longer see from her right eye and that she has not gone to the match since.

She hoped for help from the team, but added that it never happened.

Chief Executive Officer of Lake County Captains Neil Stein told NPR that he could not talk about the incident. But in an interview with a local television channel, he talked about the league's denial of responsibility for major and minor league parks.

"We have stickers on the back of our seats on the safety of the fans, on being careful at all times, we have it on our back language tickets," said Stein, in conversation with Cleveland Fox 8.

It refers to the protection of liability under the "baseball rule", a tort law almost as old as the major leagues. The rule makes it difficult for injured parties to sue for their injuries.

The warnings are displayed in team stadiums and, as Stein has described, printed on the back of the ticket stubs.

Nevertheless, as more and more people are injured, players and supporters continue to push for greater security. In 2018, the 30 MLB teams spread their nets around the marble. The Major League Baseball Association has twice called for a net from one pole to another, inspired by Japanese stadiums.

But there has been resistance, including the argument that the nets would hinder the visibility of high-priced seats. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred also said that, while the safety of fans is important, it would be difficult to adopt uniform standards.

"We have made tremendous progress over the past four years in terms of the amount of net in the ballparks," Manfred said Monday during an interview with Mike Golic of ESPN. "We did it, we worked with the clubs individually, recognizing that each stadium is different in terms of configuration, infrastructure in place and we constantly encourage them to make improvements. "

Until now, the White Sox are the only team to take pole-to-pole safety measures. The Dodgers, Washington Nationals, Texas Rangers and Pittsburgh Pirates all plan to expand their stadium nets this season.

Manfred said he's expecting more discussions about net extensions in all parks outside of the season.