MLB commissioner Rob Manfred vows to 'redouble our efforts' to protect fans
Commissioner Rob Manfred said Major League Baseball will "redouble our efforts" on fan safety after a young girl was struck by a 105 mph foul ball at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday.
"The event at yesterday's game involving a young girl were extremely upsetting for everyone in our game," Manfred said in a statement. "Over the past few seasons MLB has worked with our clubs to expand the amount of netting in our ballparks.
"In light of yesterday's event, we will redouble our efforts on this important issue."
The young girl's injury - she remained hospitalized Thursday afternoon, according to the Yankees - occurred six weeks after the Yankees said they would "seriously explore" extending the netting before the 2018 season following a similar foul ball with a fan in July.
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Before the 2016 season, Manfred recommended that all teams should lengthen the safety netting -- to the ends of both dugouts and within 70 feet of home plate -- to increase fan safety. While several teams have responded, it's not yet mandated.
Ten major league clubs have extended netting past the dugouts since the beginning of the 2016 season and many others to the inner part of the dugout. Yankee Stadium is not one of them.
“(Increased safety netting) remains an ongoing discussion in the industry,” said Manfred during his press conference in Seattle on Wednesday. “We gave some guidelines two years ago and we encourage the individual clubs to engage in a local process to look at their own stadiums that have their own difference and try to make a good decision about how far the netting should go to promote fan safety.
“If you look at what’s happened, there has been a continuous forward movement in terms of increased netting in stadiums around the league and I expect that process to continue this off-season.”
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