DIFFERENT MEASURES

In other world sports, teams take different measures to try to ensure fan safety.

In hockey, a standard Plexiglas barrier between the ice and the seats protects spectators because a puck slapped into the stands can cause serious injury.

Still, a 13-year-old girl was killed in March at a National Hockey League game in Columbus, Ohio, by a puck that flew over the barrier.

In Europe and Latin America, soccer balls booted into the stands rarely injure a spectator. Instead, fences are set up between seats and the playing field at most arenas to protect players and officials from fanatical fans who are known to violently dispute a call or a devastating loss.

Jim Elliott, a Michigan attorney who has represented fans injured at sporting events, said baseball executives should do more than reactive usher safety drills.

"There's always netting behind home plate, but it's not uniform," said Elliott, who won $1 million from the Detroit Tigers for a 10-year-old fan whose hand was injured by a flying broken bat.

"There are no league requirements. It's whatever each park decides."

EXTENDED NETS

In ballparks, a net about 50 feet (15 meters) long and 50 feet high hangs behind home plate. Elliott suggested it be extended up the first and third base lines.

Likewise, a three-foot (one meter) Plexiglas wall could run above the front-row railing beginning where the netting now ends and extending up the base lines, he said.

Patrick Courtney, spokesman for Major League Baseball, said clubs decide their own safety measures.

"There's no league-wide policy for (the use of) netting and Plexiglas," he said. No big-league stadium has a Plexiglas barrier.

The Nats' Sutton said Plexiglas would detract from fans' enjoyment.

"Fans are so close, they don't want to be distracted with that sort of barrier." Ballpark injuries are less serious than at hockey games, he said.

At a recent Nats game, David Black's fourth-row seat was so close to home plate you could hear an errant pitch thump Chicago Cubs' batter Derrek Lee in his side.

"You come to a game, you gotta expect a ball's going to fly your way. You gotta pay attention," said Black, of Gainesville, Virginia. Yet he would object to any kind of barrier. "It "removes you from the game," he said.

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