Rangers Re-evaluate Safety
In light of the recent tragic death of one of their fans, the Texas Rangers are re-evaluating their safety strategies and procedures. This is not the first person who fell over the railing. Last year in July another fan fell out of the club level while trying to catch a foul ball. The railings are 33 inches high where the current incident occurred and the building code dictates a railing at least 26 inches high. The Rangers have posted additional signage and are working with various entities to make the facility safer.
After some review, the Rangers have decided to make all the rails in the stadium 42 inches. This will significantly impact safety, but it will be interesting seeing if it will make a differecne. I wonder if other stadiums and arenas will also try to make similar changes.
It is always scary when people do almost anything to obtain a souvenir and that is both a part of baseball’s charm as well as serious threat to the safety of patrons. There is no easy answer and maybe the team will have to adopt some serious new rules or policies/procedures.