MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred Discusses Fan Safety, Cardinals Hacking
BOSTON (CBS) -- Rob Manfred has a lot on his plate in his first year as commissioner of Major League Baseball.
While a report surfaced Tuesday morning that the FBI is investigating the St. Louis Cardinals for hacking into the Houston Astros' network, the league's primary concern remains fan safety at every ballpark around the country.
It's been 10 days since a woman was struck by a flying bat at Fenway Park, sending her to the hospital with serious injuries. Tonya Carpenter has since been released from the Beth Israel and is now in a rehab facility, but the incident has Major League Baseball considering a number of changes to ensure fan safety when they attend a game.
"After the incident here in Boston, we first wanted to make sure Tonya Carpenter received absolutely the best care she could, and the Red Sox were fantastic in that regard," Manfred said Tuesday inside Fenway Park. "Since then, 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 and 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 our fans are as safe as possible," he said.
Manfred said there is some resistance to extend the netting around ballparks, mostly because it will take away from the uniqueness of having seats just a few feet the field.
"I think it is true that we have fans that express very strong preferences for seats that are close to the field and don't have netting in front of them. That's a fact," he said.
Changes will come, but Manfred said they won't be in place until the league is certain they've made the right call.
"I don't have a firm timetable in mind. We're very cognizant of the severity of the injury and it's a great concern to us," said Manfred. "But we want to make a decision that is the right decision in the long-haul in terms of promoting fan safety."
As for the claims of espionage against St. Louis, Manfred said there is still a lot to be learned regarding the situation.
"What has been reported, and we knew about it well in advance of the report, is an ongoing investigation with respect to an unauthorized entry into Houston's system. To assume that the investigation would produce a particular result, with respect to the Cardinals, and to jump to the use of the word 'cyber-attack' -- we don't know that those are the facts yet," he said.
"There is an ongoing investigation and we've been fully cooperative. Any allegation like this is of great concern to us, but it's just too early to speculate what the facts will be and what action, if any, is necessary."