CINCINNATI — Reds outfielder Marlon Byrd said he’s in favor of netting to protect fans from foul balls after a line drive off his bat struck a fan in the head during Saturday’s game.
In the seventh inning, Byrd lined a pitch from St. Louis Cardinals right hander Michael Wacha into the stands on the first-base side. The ball struck 32-year old Nick Thalhammer above his right eye and caromed back on to the field.
“You’re expecting the fans to be safe,” said Byrd. “(If) anybody gets hurt, it’s going to be somebody on the field. It’s scary.”
Thalhammer, a St. Louis native who now lives in Cincinnati, later tweeted: “I used to have Marlon on my fantasy squad. Love seeing him on the Reds but could’ve done without the foul ball to the face”.
Byrd said he communicated via Twitter with Thalhammer, who later posted a photo of the gash above his eye while holding the baseball.
“So he’s doing good. He had a nice little cut above his eye,” Byrd said. “Yeah, I was glad he was OK. I mean, I hit it flush. You see the ball go into the fans and you’re just hoping it misses everyone. Then all of a sudden you see it bounce back out off of somebody.”
Saturday’s game, a 4-1 Cardinals victory, was delayed for several minutes after Thalhammer was struck. Byrd said home plate umpire Joe West was concerned that someone else might be hit if they resumed play while many fans were standing with their backs to home plate while tending to the injured fan.
Although serious fan injuries from foul balls are extremely rare, Byrd believes protective netting in ballparks would make sense.
“There should be netting. I’m not sure why there’s not,” he said. “We have technology now to where we can get netting to where you can still see and it doesn’t distract you. We just hope the fans can be safe.”