MCKINNEY, Texas —The owners of Zinger Bat Ballpark in McKinney are beefing up safety protocols following a handful of complaints about parents and fans being hit with foul balls.
The park, which was formerly known as the Triple Creek Academy Complex, hosts over 30 tournaments a year.
The owners, Baseball Nation LLC, acquired the park in 2013 and have been running it since then.
For grandparent Dan Reid, the park is adequate unless you’re watching a game. He’s been there several times to see his grandson play.
Reid, who uses a wheelchair, says that parents and players are constantly dodging foul balls because no nets or coverings are above the backstops.
“It’s hard to pay attention to what’s going on when there’s four games around you and balls are flying everywhere,” Reid said. “In my opinion—it hasn’t been safe.”
At the park—four fields are backed up to one another. Space is tight, which Reid said doesn’t help.
“If they hit a foul ball on this field, and it comes over to where you’re watching a game on the other field—I don’t see that ball coming,” Reid said.
According to Reid, he saw a parent get hit in the chin at a tournament last week. That parent shared a photo of the injury with WFAA, which shows a pretty nasty bruise on her chin.
“One of the other parents had to catch her to keep her from going down,” Reid said. “Then a parent from the opposing team got hit directly in the back of the head with a ball not five minutes after.”
Not only that, Reid says foul balls land into adjacent games all the time.
“The boys aren’t looking for it, and they don’t know it’s coming,” Reid said. “I’m afraid one of those boys is going to get hurt.”
And Reid isn’t alone, on a Facebook page associated with the park—negative reviews have been left by parents.
Since 2015, at least 13 complaints were filed about stray foul balls being a problem.
Parent DeAnn Dean, who was watching her son practice at the park Wednesday, said that dodging foul balls is part of the game.
“Suck it up buttercup,” Dean said. Per Dean, she was conked in the head at a different park last year and blames only herself.
“I was on my phone, and I wasn’t paying attention,” she said. “Is that the ballpark’s fault? No, it was mine.”
Still, Baseball Nation said it’s listening loud and clear after that parent shared a picture of her injury on the Facebook page.
According to the owner of the group, protective nets or awnings will be up in 6 to 8 weeks.
Reid was pleased to hear that, but he might be spending less time at the park until he thinks things are safer.
“Find a way to protect the fans, and I think more fans will come,” he said.
Before interviewing Reid, a member of Baseball Nation personally apologized to Reid in the parking lot.