CHICAGO _ For decades we've heard the familiar chant emanating from the Wrigley Field bleachers whenever a fan catches a home-run ball hit by the visiting team.
"Throw it back. Throw it back."
It's an unwritten rule that most bleacherites at Wrigley adhere to and that fans at a few other parks have adopted over the years. Those who refuse to throw the balls back are typically harassed until peer pressure forces them to conform.
Sadly, those days are probably over thanks to the coronavirus pandemic.
Because we won't know whether your hands are clean, and no one wants you potentially spreading your germs to the player or employee who has to retrieve the ball once it has been thrown back onto the field, a new unwritten rule must be adopted.
"Keep it. Keep it."
Major League Baseball announced an agreement with its players union last week concerning service time, draft rules and other issues pertaining to players. But we still don't know when the game will return. Assuming fans eventually will be allowed into ballparks this year, some changes will have to be instituted to ensure the health and safety of players and fans alike.
Here are seven other rules we'd like to see enacted to help us feel safer at the ballpark.
