BURRILLVILLE – When I sat down at a meeting which the management team for the Worcester Red Sox, or WOOSOX, for short; they wanted to emphasize kids playing baseball in backyards, baseball fields and open fields instead of on streets.
Obviously, playing baseball on streets, roads and parking lots could be very dangerous for little kids. You have no idea when a vehicle could round a corner, or a bend in the road and never know when someone unknowingly, could drive into a parking lot thinking that it is empty and then find a child running after a baseball from around a corner of a building or a blind spot caused by clumps of trees and bushes.
The safest place to play baseball is actually in backyards. It’s nearer to homes and apartments, and parents can keep a watchful eye on children playing in the backyard instead of not knowing what is happening if their kids are playing somewhere else. Kids should never chase baseballs over fences, into wooded areas, thickets, someone else’s property or onto streets. Never just run after a runaway baseball without thinking about the potential hazards by taking this unnecessary risk. If a baseball ends up in a stream, pond or any other open water area or even a swimming pool, never go into the water in an attempt to retrieve it. Just let it go. Leave it alone. It’s not worth the risk of falling into a stream, pond, lake or swimming pool and drowning. Even if you can see the baseball in the water never go into the water and try to remove it. Streams flow, ponds and lakes have slippery rocks and coastal dangers and swimming pools should not be entered by any child without adult supervision.
Backyard baseball is the safest place to play the game. Play safe kids!
