The fan who fell in the Rangers ballpark on Tuesday night is doing well, but all reports including this one from Elizabeth Zavala and Jeff Wilson.  Thankfully.  He hit  a ribbon video board on the way down, and then landed on some other fans, so he fall was slowed and broken at several points and that most likely saved his life.  Two fans fell last year in Busch Stadium and survived, but one fell the year before that in Atlanta and did not.

The Rangers ballpark has railing along the deck that the fan fell from, and those railings are already 4 inches above code. Most likely that would keep in your average sized person, but a tall guy who may have a fairly good upper body certainly can get some momentum and take a serious tumble.  Should the railings be raised more?

Anyone who has ever sat with me in the front row of any level above the field knows I am miserable in those seats.  I am at a height that either requires I sit way forward to see the whole field, or lean way back and slouch so I can look through the grated or glass divider.   I hate that.  I always feel I should have just watched it on TV when there is something that is between me and the game.

Fans are often in danger of batted balls on the field level as well. The balls come very fast, and honestly, not everyone who sits in the first rows is paying attention.  Small kids should not be allowed to sit in the front row- period.

The answer to keep fans safe in both situations is to raise the railings and extend the nets around the sides of the seating bowl.  But, what fans don’t want is to be pushed even further back, to have barriers erected between them and the game.  That’s why I started this site so long ago, to gain enough of a fan following that we could make our voices heard.  So while advocating for the fans should mean protecting them from serious injury, and I against adding that net.

So what can be done, to make sure we are safe when we attend a game?

If you sit in the front row of sections near the field, the usher should have to read you a statement like a flight attendant does, warning you of the serious nature of batted balls including how many miles per hour that ball is traveling when it leaves the bat.  Children under the age of 12 should not be allowed in those first two rows, under any circumstances, and then only over 12 if they are accompanied by one adult for every kid present.

But what happens for those upper decks?  What prevents other fans from falling over, with just momentum carrying them?   Perhaps higher rails are the answer?  Perhaps those are seats only for season ticket holders who, one might believe, would be less likely to get caught up in the excitement of the game.  I am not sure here- so I ask each of you reading today, what is the answer?  What would assure your safety, and yet not get in the way of your enjoyment of the game?