Galvis rips ballpark safety: Put up net, protect all fans

Freddy Galvis has a young daughter.

After witnessing a young girl being struck in the face by a foul ball Saturday, the Philadelphia Phillies shortstop lashed out on the lack of protective netting at stadiums around the league.

"What year is this? 2016? It's 2016 and fans keep getting hit by foul balls when you're supposed to have a net to protect the fans," Galvis told reporters. "The fans give you the money, so you should protect them, right? We're worried about speeding up the game.

"Why don't you put up a net and protect all the fans?"

Prior to the season, MLB recommended that teams extend their protective netting to anywhere within 70 feet of home plate. The Phillies added about 10 feet to the netting behind home plate, which now stretches near the dugout.

But Galvis said teams and the league aren't doing enough to protect fans, but instead, are worried about making games go by quicker.

"They're worried about stupid stuff," Galvis said. "They should worry about the real stuff. That's real stuff."

The girl Galvis hit with the foul ball was taken to a children's hospital, according to the club, and is undergoing further evaluations.

Galvis couldn't stress enough that it's about the fans and their safety.

"What if I broke all her teeth. What if I broke her nose. If I hit her in one eye and she loses that. What are they going to do? They're going to forget in three days," Galvis said. "It's going to be a big deal for two, three days. Everybody in TV, media, whatever. But after three days what's going to happen? They're going to forget.

"But that family won't forget that," he added. "Do you think the little baby will forget that? It's true life. It's something you have to put before everything. Safety first. Safety."