Though the recent bombings at the Boston Marathon aren’t a factor in calling the gathering, MLB officials will meet this week to address possible changes in ballpark security procedures.
The meeting has been scheduled for weeks, but it will receive some extra attention after three were killed and dozens injured when two bombs were planted at the finish-line area of the Boston Marathon on April 15.
“This stadium operations meeting scheduled for later this week was not a product of the incidents in Boston,” MLB spokesman Michael Teevan told AP. “It is a part of our ongoing efforts to discuss state-of-the-art security measures with the clubs, and it’s standard operating procedure.”
Backpacks like the ones used in the Boston bombings are allowed in MLB ballparks if it passes an inspection. Some teams have more stringest requirements — no backpacks at all in Yankee Stadium, for instance — but in general you’re not allowed to bring in a bag 16 inches by 16 inches by 8 inches, both for regular-season and spring-training games.
The temptation will be to overreact. But MLB attracts a lot of fans hitting the game after work, and between business types with laptops and parents with kid supplies (diapers, formula, etc.), there are legitimate reasons to keep the rules as they are. Inspecting bags will be a deterrent in most situations, and given the closed situation at a ballpark (as opposed to the Boston Marathon finishing-line area, which was totally open to all), it’s unclear whether additional measures are necessary.
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