Fans Hit By Bat Raise Fenway Park Safety Concerns
BOSTON (CBS) - It was the seventh inning when Yankees catcher Brian McCann's bat slipped out of his hands. A spokesperson tells WBZ it hit two fans, touching off another round of the debate raised last time a Fenway fan was pummeled by a bat.
"What's it going to take? For a child to die?" asked Sam Rosario who was sitting next to Tonya Carpenter when she was struck back in in June. "What's it going to take? For a kid to get a bat to the head for someone to do something?"
Rosario is demanding the netting behind home plate be extended around the park. "The bat traveled at 110 miles an hour 57 feet away from us. It was a missile coming right at her head, and it's about time someone do something about fan safety."
A month later, another fan, Stephanie Wapenski, was hit by a foul ball at Fenway.
After a baseball fan fell 40 feet to his death in Atlanta last weekend, the MLB Commissioner said he's considering mandating new safety regulations at ballparks. Batted balls hit 1750 fans every year nationwide, that's not including flying bats, shards, or people falling.
Venue Safety Attorney Steven Adelman says Fenway poses unique concerns. "Because you're closer to balls and bats that are moving through the air, there is a greater danger at a place like Fenway Park. Precisely the thing that makes it fabulous also makes it a little more dangerous."