Girl hit by foul ball raises concerns

NEW YORK — It might be the shot heard around the baseball world: the rocket-like foul ball that hit a young girl at a New York Yankees game.

In the hours after the girl was struck in the face by the 105-mph screamer, the game’s commissioner vowed to push harder for all teams to extend protective netting to the end of the dugouts and the Cincinnati Reds committed to do just that by next year.

Several legal observers of baseball, which has long been shielded from lawsuits over fan injuries, saw it as a potential game changer.

“America’s pastime is breaking America’s heart. That little girl, that’s everyone’s daughter,” said lawyer Bob Hilliard, who represents fans in a California lawsuit that seeks class action status to sue on behalf of 1,750 fans hit by balls and bats at games each year.

The line drive off the bat of Yankees slugger Todd Frazier on Wednesday hit the girl in the face in less than a second, and the game came to a halt as she was treated in the stands. Frazier and other players from the Yankees and Minnesota Twins kneeled in prayer, and many fans were in stunned silence or in tears.

The toddler remained hospitalized Thursday. Her father said soon after she was hit, “She’s doing all right. Just keep her in your thoughts.”

In a statement Thursday, Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred called the events “extremely upsetting.”