Aldermen Call On Cubs, Sox To Exceed MLB Safety Netting Requirements
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A day after an injured Schaumburg man announced he was suing the Cubs and Major League Baseball for not having enough netting at Wrigley Field, the City Council Finance Committee has backed a resolution urging both the Cubs and the White Sox to put up more safety barriers.
Ald. Patrick Thompson (11th), whose ward includes Guaranteed Rate Field, the home of the White Sox, was among the aldermen who voted for the resolution.
"In my conversation with the White Sox, they're already in plans to expand their netting at Guaranteed Rate Field," Thompson said. "The resolution is just to call attention to that and make sure that both the Sox and the Cubs – and hopefully then other cities – will look at us as a leader in terms of making sure we have safety."
Ald. Tom Tunney (44th), whose ward includes Wrigley Field, said he supports more netting at ballparks, but he raised liability concerns.
"In terms of the liability issue, I kind of fell off on that part of it, because I'm not exactly schooled on exactly what we should be doing when an accident happens inside of a private place -- a stadium," he said.
The resolution wouldn't require the Cubs or White Sox to make any changes at their stadiums but would only publicly encourage them to install more protection for fans to prevent others being hit by foul balls or wayward bats.
The Cubs will add at least 30 more feet of protective netting, president of business operations Crane Kenney previously said, a move that will come in conjunction with moving the both dugouts slightly farther down the lines as part of continued Wrigley Field renovations. The Cubs were evaluating the possibility of adding more than 30 more feet of netting as well, Kenney said.