There’s been a lot of debate in baseball about maple and ash bats. This centers mostly on the dangers posed when the former breaks, sending potentially-lethal splinters flying in almost any direction. Mark Grace, who does color commentary on Diamondbacks’ games, is a particular advocate of the cause that Something Must Be Done. Which is fair enough, except the key-word in that second sentence is “potentially”.
Death At The Ballpark: Maple Bats Aren’t The Biggest Threat
No-one has ever been killed by a broken-bat. Admittedly, you could replace “ever” with “yet”, and there have been some close calls, such as the fan who had their jaw broken at Dodger Stadium by a broken bat that flew out of the hands of Todd Helton. It’s an issue, but there is a far greater risk at the ballpark, one whose deadly potential has already been realized, and was again earlier this month.
On June 12th, Wendy Whitehead was attending a minor-league game between the San Angelo Colts and the Amarillo Dillas. Sitting with her husband down the third-base line, a hitter fouled off a line-drive into the stands. The ball hit Wendy in the head, and she died the next day. She isn't alone. Last April, Sports Illustrated reported that 52 baseball spectators had been killed by balls in the stands since 1887. That doesn't include the like of Mike Coolbaugh, a coach in the Rockies organization, struck in the head and killed instantly in July 2007 - an incident that resulted in helmets being made mandatory for the first- and third-base coaches.
Admittedly, only two of those deaths took place at the pro level. In 1960, Dominic LaSala, 68, died at a minor league game in Miami. And in May 1970, 14-year-old Alan Fish died after being struck by a Manny Mota foul ball in the left temple. while sitting along the first base line at Dodger Stadium. The sad irony is, fourteen years later, Mota’s own teenage nephew, Adriano Martinez, was struck by lightning, and killed while playing shortstop in New York.
Then there's the non-fatalities. Hall of Fame member Bob Feller threw a pitch that ended up hitting his own mother over the eye - on Mother's Day, of all occasions! And in 1957, Richie Ashburn struck the same person twice. On August 17th that year, his first foul ball broke a woman's nose - as the victim was being carried out on a stretcher, Ashburn hit her again.
Yeah, it’s funny, in a morbid kind of way. However, the point is clear: worrying about maple bats is well and good, but there is a far greater danger to life and limb at the ballpark. That’s especially given the distractions we now have - I wince when I see people texting, turning and chatting to people behind them, or even sleeping [hey, it was a Pirates game, what can I say?] while an inning is in full swing.
Basically, folks - if you wouldn’t do it while driving, don’t do it when the ball is in play.
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