Fan hit by foul ball at Comerica Park surprised Tigers will extend netting

The Detroit Tigers are joining 4 other major league ball clubs extending safety netting before the 2018 season. 

• Detroit Tigers fan hit in head by foul ball in 2015 talks for first time
• Detroit Tigers to extend safety netting at Comerica Park for 2018

In a statement to 7 Action News, the Tigers said:

Ballpark operations is developing a plan whereas safety netting would be extended in time for the 2018 season.

It is not known how far the nets will be extended - possibly to the outside edges of the dugouts. 

In 2015 Carey Mason was hit in the head by a hot smash foul ball while sitting behind the Tigers dugout. 

She said to 7 Investigator Jim Kiertzner who told her about this new Tigers plan, “Initially I was surprised. I was not sure that you were telling me the truth.” 

Up to now, 10 of the 30 major league teams had extended safety netting. 

Now, after a young girl was hit by a foul tip at a New York Yankees game, 4 other clubs are also extending netting: the Reds, Padres, Mariners and Rockies. 

Mason says people have no idea the lifelong problems after getting hit like she did. 

“The pain, the nerve damage, the paralysis, the seizures that are pretty much on a daily basis," she says. "That’s a lot not to just cope with but learn how to live with.” 

She also says the Tigers have offered her no help. 

“We heard from them one time," she says. "They wanted to know if I was dead.”    

She also offered this for the toddler in New York, “We all have lifelong disabilities. So it was a matter of time. How sad for this little lamb. This is a long road for her. When she gets out of the hospital, that’s only the beginning.”