Girl hit by foul ball at Yankees game gets game’s attention
NEW YORK — It might be the shot heard around the baseball world: the rocket-like foul ball that hit a young girl at a New York Yankees game.
In the hours after the girl was struck in the face by the 105-mph screamer, the game’s commissioner vowed to push harder for all teams to extend protective netting to the end of the dugouts and the Cincinnati Reds and San Diego Padres committed to do just that by next year. A U.S. senator urged the commissioner to “put the safety of your fans first” and extend nets at all ballparks.
Several legal observers of baseball, which has long been shielded from lawsuits over fan injuries, saw it as a potential game changer.
“America’s pastime is breaking America’s heart. That little girl, that’s everyone’s daughter,” said lawyer Bob Hilliard, who represents fans in a California lawsuit that seeks class action status to sue on behalf of 1,750 fans hit by balls and bats at games each year.