Fan hit in head by foul ball at same game Manfred talks up safety

A woman was injured by a foul ball at a Philadelphia Phillies game Thursday night, hours after the Major League Baseball commissioner was at the stadium and spoke about increasing fan safety.

Commissioner Rob Manfred talked at Citizens Bank Park before the New York Mets played the Phillies. He said there was a chance that extra safety nets could be put up around the majors as early as next season.

In the second inning, a fan sitting five rows off the field was hit in the forehead by a foul off the bat of Freddy Galvis of the Phillies. The team said she was evaluated and didn't need to go to a hospital.

Several fans at big league games have been hurt by foul balls and flying bats this season. The injuries have prompted players and others to call for expanded netting at ballparks.

"We are examining all of the relevant information," Manfred said. "Our goal to is to put the commissioner's office in a position where we can make a complete recommendation to ownership in November and give people an opportunity to be ready to make changes for next year if, in fact, we decide that changes are necessary."

The female fan in Philadelphia was sitting just to the right of where the netting ends. Fans around her immediately motioned for medical personnel and Phillies players threw a towel from the dugout to help stop any bleeding.

The woman eventually was helped to the concourse.

"This is a topic that is of serious concern, not only to me but more importantly to all 30 owners," Manfred said before the accident.

Manfred said MLB is studying how to implement consistent standards.

"I suspect we would adopt industry guidelines," he said. "But there are going to be some individual decision-making here because of the design of ballparks. The designs are so different."

"Frankly, when we started to look at it, you lose track of how different they really are. It's more of a challenge to devise meaningful guidelines for the industry because the ballparks are so different. So it's going to be a combination of the two," he said.