Rob Manfred: First concern always will be safety of fans

BOSTON -- Five days after Tonya Carpenter was released from the hospital after being struck in the face by the shattered barrel of a baseball bat at Fenway Park, Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said the industry is looking at a "variety of remedies" designed to prevent such incidents from recurring.

Carpenter, of Paxton, Massachusetts, was transferred last Friday to a rehabilitation clinic with injuries that originally were described as life-threatening. Doctors at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center described her condition as "excellent" and said she had made excellent progress in her recovery.

Carpenter, 44, was sitting in the second row of box seats near the third-base on-deck circle June 5 when she was struck by a large piece of the maple bat used by Brett Lawrie of the Oakland Athletics. That has prompted calls for teams to expand the protective netting used behind home plate in major league stadiums.

Manfred, who came to Boston on Tuesday as part of his introductory tour of major league teams, addressed the issue.

"What I would say to you about this, our first and foremost concern is the safety of our fans,'' he said. "As for the incident here in Boston, we first wanted to make sure that Tonya Carpenter received absolutely the best care she could. The Red Sox were absolutely fantastic in that regard.

"Since that time, we have been focused on a variety of remedies that could be used to address this problem. They include things like additional bat regulations, wrapping of bats, increased netting. I think it's important, as we move forward with this, that we keep all of the available options on the table and make the best decision to make sure that our fans are as safe as possible.''

Manfred said expanding netting was not an issue that required the approval of the players' association in collective bargaining, though he said the commissioner's office has had discussions with the players' union on the topic. He also acknowledged that there is resistance among some fans to adding netting.

"I think it is true that we have fans that express very strong preferences for seats that are close to the field and do not have netting in front of them,'' Manfred said. "That's a fact.''

Manfred was asked, in light of the severity of the injuries suffered by Carpenter, whether there was an urgency for baseball to adopt possible solutions.

"I don't have a firm timetable in mind,'' Manfred said. "We're very cognizant of the severity of the injury, and obviously it's a great concern to us, but we want to make a decision that's the right decision over the long haul in terms of promoting fan safety.''