By Josh
Fans
I honestly don’t even know where to start with this one. Fans can sometimes be the absolute worst. Don’t believe me? Hop on twitter and look at the replies after pretty much every MLB tweet.
Fans have been given so much information and technology that they have crossed from thinking they know more than people who run baseball for a living, to shouting it to everyone in ear site and attacking anyone who disagrees. Heck I’ll probably get fans attacking me just for this series of articles I’m writing.
It’s one thing to disagree with an opinion, but to try and belittle another fan because they see things differently has a negative impact. Fans begin to feel frustrated and pushed away from the game they love. I know this for a fact because I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve told my wife that doing 9 Inning Know It All at times isn’t worth it. She sits me down and lets me talk through it, but honestly a lot of baseball fans have done things that nearly turned me off to the game once and for all.
One of the biggest fan fights is over netting at Major League ballparks. I am for nets down the first and third base lines. Netting doesn’t ruin a game for a fan. The most expensive and best seats in the stadium are right behind home plate, oh and right behind netting.
One of my favorite minor league ballparks has netting blocking all of the box seats. Yeah taking photos is a bit harder but you know what is nice? My 2 year old and 7 year old can sit next to me and I can interact with them all during the game without me having to worry about a ball hitting them on any given pitch. Honestly, even though I’ve played baseball/softball all my life, I’m not sure I could react fast enough to catch some of those line drives even if I was down past the dugouts. That is why I don’t photograph games on the field for college level and above.
Allowing fans to come and RELAX at a baseball game with their entire family means more to me than whether or not a net is in front of me. When parents can have fun and interact with their kids at a game they will want to go to more games, building a young fan for the future.