The Rays "took action after a fan was struck by a foul ball at Friday's game by adding additional netting to cover a triangular gap in front of the seats near the Tropicana Field dugouts," according to Marc Topkin of the TAMPA BAY TIMES. The injured fan, a 63-year-old woman, "suffered facial fractures after being hit in the left eye." The Rays had "expanded the netting this season" as part of MLB's league-wide recommendation to "increase fan safety." At the bottom of the seam where the new netting joined the old, triangular gaps were "left to provide access to the camera wells." The gaps "angled sideways from the field, and the width of the opening facing the field was no more than 6 inches, which made it seemingly unlikely for a ball to get through." Rays RF Steven Souza Jr., who hit the ball, said the odds of it getting through and striking the woman, who was seated in the front row, were "astronomical," but that "having the hole covered will be a little peace of mind for the fans sitting there today" (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 4/17). Topkin noted Friday's game against the White Sox was "delayed 12 minutes" as the woman was "attended to and placed on a stretcher that was on the field and wheeled out" (TAMPABAY.com, 4/16). USA Today’s Christine Brennan said, “Even netting, which is clearly the next good step that baseball has taken here, is not a cure all in all cases” (“GMA,” ABC, 4/18).
TWIN BILL: In N.Y., Joe Nocera noted MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred last December "issued a recommendation that teams extend the netting from behind home plate to either the near ends of the dugouts or to any seat within 70 feet of the batter’s box." The league said that every team is "now in compliance with the recommendation, though in some cases, teams really didn’t do much beyond widening the netting behind home plate a few feet in either direction." But several teams have "gone further, extending their netting to the far ends of the dugouts, protecting seats usually sold to season-ticket holders." The Twins "weren’t willing to simply hide behind the assumption-of-risk doctrine," and they extended the netting to the ends of the dugouts. Twins President Dave St. Peter said that the team was "already in compliance when Manfred issued his recommendation." But Manfred’s call for additional netting "essentially gave the team cover to extend its netting down the foul line." Twins Senior VP/Operations Matt Hoy, St. Peter and the rest of the Twins organization "viewed extending the netting down the foul lines as a no-brainer." Nocera: "The question is: Why don’t more teams feel the same sense of urgency about protecting fans?" (N.Y. TIMES, 4/16). Hoy said 40-45 season-ticket holders "chose to come down and take a look at the net before” renewing or purchasing tickets. The team has had "two accounts that asked to be moved” after the first three games at Target Field this season ("OTL," ESPN, 4/15).
