4 Safety Tips to Remember When Going to a Baseball Game

We were checking our Twitter feed today and came across a tweet by the Arizona personal injury law firm of Bache & Lynch about a woman who was struck by a bat at a minor league game. Since baseball season is right around the corner, we figured we’d share some tips on staying safe at baseball games. While the story is about professional baseball, these tips are valid in high school, Babe Ruth, Little League, etc as well.

1. Stay Alert
   Seems pretty simple right? You’d be amazed at how many people go to baseball games, purchase a seat right down one of the foul lines and just do not pay attention to every single pitch. Sometimes people just cannot get out the way of the ball. It happens, but the balls that are chopped and lack velocity going into the crowd shouldn’t seriously hurt anyone if they are alert, but it happens.
2. Think About Who You Are Bringing to the Game
   Say you are going out to Durham, Zebulon, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, etc. to catch some Minor League action this year and you have your 2 year old son and your 70 year old father in tow. While it might be exciting to be right on top of the action, the best bet would be to scale back a little bit. Your son isn’t going to be able to defend himself if a ball is batted his way. Your father’s ability to dodge a batted ball should also cause concern at that age.
3. Don’t Lean Over Rails to Catch Balls
   Baseball fans, sadly, learned far too much about this last year. During a Texas Rangers game, Josh Hamilton tossed a ball into the stands. A man in the stands reached out for the ball, lost his balance and flipped over the rail. His fall was fatal. He had been at the game with his son who witnessed his father fall to his death. Just a horrible story, but we use it illustrate the dangers of leaning over rails.
4. Bring Sunglasses
   If you have a seat that is in the danger zone when it comes to foul balls and flying bats, you may want to invest in some sunglasses before the game. You see ballplayers lose balls in the sun all the time. These are professionals paid to play the game. You’re not. (Well, maybe you are. It would be great if professional ballplayers were reading our blog.)

* Photo courtesy of SD Dirk via Flickr Creative Commons