Nightengale: MLB must increase netting at all ballparks

I couldn't believe how close these Seattle Mariners' box seats were to the playing field at Safeco Field.

Section 25, Row A, Seat 3.

They were right behind the Mariners' on-deck circle, so close that you could feel the breeze of a player's practice swing.

"So,'' the couple asked, "are you afraid of the ball?''

I laughed.

MLB SALARIES: Baseball's top 25 highest-paid players in 2024

Sat back.

Suddenly, I realized what they meant.

There was no protection. No netting.

Just a sign in front that read: "Please Stay Alert to Bats and Balls Leaving the Field.''

The only obstruction between the batter and my face was the hitter standing in the on-deck circle.

My mind started racing. If a foul ball came whizzing back, and I was lucky, I could duck in time, only for it to hit someone else in my section. If I felt like being a hero, I could try to catch the ball and probably broken a few bones in my hand.

There were no foul balls hit near me at the Mariners-Boston Red Sox game three weeks ago, and although they may have been the best seats I've ever had at a ballgame, it was the most uncomfortable I've ever felt.

Those same thoughts came rushing back when the news broke that a fan, identified on Saturday as Tonya Carpenter, sitting in the second row at Fenway Park with her young son was hit in the face by a broken maple bat swung by Oakland A's third baseman Brett Lawrie.

She was put on a gurney, rushed off the field and taken by ambulance to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center where her condition was called "life threatening.'' She upgraded to "serious" Saturday while remaining at the hospital.

Carpenter was in so much pain, and screamed so loudly, that her voice could be heard throughout the ballpark. Red Sox center fielder Mookie Betts caught a glimpse of the blood gushing from her face and could only turn away.

It's time we never see another fan injured like this from a bat flying into the stands or a foul ball.

Major League Baseball implemented mandatory metal detectors at every ballpark for the safety of fans and players for the first time this season.

Now is the time to make it mandatory that safety netting extends past every dugout at every major league ballpark.

They do it at the ballparks in Japan.

It's past time they do it here.

"It happens every game, somebody gets hit,'' Atlanta Braves third baseman Chris Johnson said last year after an 8-year-old boy was hit in the head by a foul ball at Turner Field. "Whether it's a bad one or not, somebody gets hit in the stands every single game."

There are 1,750 spectators who are injured every year by batted balls at major league games, according to an analysis by the Bloomberg News. There are 53,000 foul balls that enter the seats every year, according to Edwin Comber, creator of foulballz.com.

Sure, they're free baseballs that every fan tries to catch, but at what price?

The Major League Baseball Players Association, realizing that no one feels worse than the player whose foul ball or bat hits a fan, has brought up extending the netting. Both parties cannot afford to wait until the collective bargaining agreement expires in 2016 to agree on this.

"We have the utmost concern for the victim of this terribly unfortunate incident,'' MLB said in a statement to USA TODAY Sports. "Fan safety is our foremost goal for all those who choose to support our game by visiting our ballparks and we will always strive for that experience to be safe and fan-friendly.''

When the owners get together in August for their quarterly meetings in Chicago, it's imperative that new Commissioner Rob Manfred tells each one of them that their ballpark has to change before the 2016 season.

Sure, there will be resistance. Most fans hate the idea of paying $400 for a box seat with a view through a net.

Too bad.

How many more injuries do we need? Or do we need the first death since a 14-year-old boy died at Dodger Stadium after being hit by a foul ball in 1970, to change our thinking on how far the netting should extend at every ballpark?

"I'm not too comfortable with the fans around the on-deck circle,'' Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz said. "When I got to the on-deck I always have kids screaming and kind of focusing on me. And I keep on telling them, 'Hey, just watch the hitter, watch the hitter.' Because I don't want to see nobody getting hit by a foul ball or anything like that.

"If I could, I would put net all the way around in between the dugouts. But I don't know if fans are going to agree with that because the view is kind of different''

Red Sox third baseman Pablo Sandoval says forget about the flaws of maple bats. They're breaking 50% less than they did seven years ago when MLB implemented regulations on weight distribution.

"It's not the bat,'' Sandoval said. "Extend the net. "It should probably be dugout to dugout because a lot of fans are getting hurt.''

The NHL has lived this. In 2002, Brittanie Cecil, 13, was hit by a puck at a NHL game in Columbus, Ohio, and suffered a fractured skull before dying two days later. Now every rink now has netting behind the goal line.

"A lot of fans don't understand how dangerous it is,'' Kansas City Royals pitcher Jeremy Guthrie told MLB.com last year. "I understand there's a great fan experience sitting behind a dugout, but there's a ton of inherent danger and I think a lot of people are not really quite aware of just how dangerous it is for everybody, kids and adults alike."

Why do we always have to wait for a tragedy to change our safety standards?

Remember four years ago when Texas Rangers Josh Hamilton innocently flipped a baseball to a fan in the left field stands during a game. Only the fan, Shannon Stone, so excited to get the ball for his 6-year-old son, came rushing toward the railing in Texas, flipped over and fell 20 feet onto the concrete below.

He was pronounced dead an hour later.

The Rangers immediately decided to raise the height of the railings in their ballpark from 33 inches to 42 inches, and MLB implemented a rule prohibiting players from tossing baseballs that far into the stands.

And it was in 2007 when baseball mourned the death of Mike Coolbaugh, the Tulsa Drillers first base coach, who was killed by a line drive during a game. Baseball wasted little time requiring all base coaches to wear helmets during Major League Baseball games.

The time has come again for MLB to quickly react.

The extra netting won't prevent every bruise and busted lip from foul balls, or stop people from dropping their kids to try to catch a foul ball, but it would greatly diminish the serious injuries.

Maybe even save a life or two along the way.

Shouldn't that be worth looking through a net at your next ballgame?

Contributing: Joe Lemire and Maureen Mullen in Boston