Rob Manfred, the commissioner of Major League Baseball, will look into the safety of fans after a women sustain life-threatening injuries over the weekend due to a broken bat. As reported by ESPN.com writer Brett Lawrie, Manfred addressed the situation at the amateur draft last night. Manfred says the sport must “react strongly” to Friday night’s accident in Boston. Tonya Carpenter, 44, was the women that was struck during the Oakland Athletics vs. Boston Red Sox’s game.
“When you have an issue like this, an incident like this, you have to go back and re-evaluate where you are on all of your safety issues and trust me, we will do that. Just like we are on a variety of issues right now at the beginning of my tenure,” Manfred said. Carpenter is being treated at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where her condition was listed as serious Saturday and Sunday.
Carpenter was sitting in the first few rows of the between home plate and the third-base dugout, an area where fans are not protected by netting, when she was struck by a shattered bat that snapped as Oakland’s Brett Lawrie hit a ground ball.
This incident has proposed the idea that a netting would extend further out. As of now the netting only goes as far as the two dugouts on the field. Though this seems to be a logical move to help protect fans, the play of the field my be affected on plays in foul territory. Manfred believes he needs to involve the players union to come to a solution.
“Some of the changes would affect play on the field. The MLBPA might be involved in those discussions,” Manfred said. “And then obviously us and the clubs. I mean, this is an important local issue, and as with all topics we want to make sure we know where our clubs are on a topic.”
King Jut (@KingJut92)
