Why MLB Should Take Action Before Player-Fan Tension Boils Over

For all the talk about the concerns over instant replay so far and the controversy surrounding the recent brawl between the Milwaukee Brewers and Pittsburgh Pirates over the weekend, there may be an even bigger potential problem lurking under Major League Baseball's radar.

That would be the possibility of a dangerous incident resulting from player-fan interaction near the field of play.

Now, perhaps you're thinking this is nothing to worry about and that both fans and players know their place when it comes to conducting themselves properly on the field and in the stands. But the first few weeks of the 2014 season shows evidence to the contrary, and it's something that the league should be aware of and consider looking into further.

Consider that in the span of about two weeks this month, there were three separate incidents in which player-fan interaction on or near the diamond became a story unto itself.

The first happened when Matt Adams of the St. Louis Cardinals went after a foul pop-up that was drifting toward the stands in Cincinnati, resulting in this mini-altercation with a Reds fan:

The second occurred when Adam Jones of the Baltimore Orioles said the following, via ESPN.com, after a fan rushed onto the field at Yankee Stadium while he was in center field:

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I let them know how I felt, obviously a lot of choice words because I think it's idiotic for people to run on the field and I think the punishment needs to be a lot harsher. And they should let us have a shot to kick them with our metal spikes on because it's stupid.

You look like a [idiot] when you run on the field. We don't go to any other events. We don't go to other sporting events and do that to their jobs, but they come to ours and do that. I get it, you're drunk and you want to be on SportsCenter. Your [butt] is going to jail with a fine, and you might not be allowed to come back to the ballpark.

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And then there was Curtis Granderson, one of baseball's genuine good guys, pointing out and admonishing a fan at Angel Stadium for touching him after he caught a fly ball, as Adam Rubin of ESPN New York wrote:

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"Say whatever you want to say. Boo, cheer, clap, cheer for your team, cheer for the other team. But just don't physically touch the players."

Granderson acknowledged that he was concerned by the incident.

"You never know what's going to go on," he said. "The thing that was asked to me by the [Angels] team security was, 'Are you OK? Did anything happen?' I was like, 'Yeah, everything's fine.' But just the fact that I got touched during the act of the game while things were going on is obviously something to always be concerned about."

Granderson said it was the first time he had been touched by a fan while on the field in his career.

"Hey, if the ball is coming into the stands, you're more than welcome to go ahead and grab it and catch it and do whatever you want to," Granderson said. "Once you come onto the field of play, whether it's reaching over or actually stepping onto the field, obviously then the rule has been broken."

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To be clear, this isn't about placing blame on players or fans for any of the above—you can decide for yourself who you think was right or wrong in each case—but it is about raising awareness to an issue that isn't yet a major one but could be if even one interaction goes bad on either side of the fence.

Need we bring up the NBA's horrific Malice at the Palace from 2004, during which several players from the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons entered the stands and caused a full-blown melee?

Or the life-threatening stabbing of tennis star Monica Seles by a fan in 1993:

Those are obviously the rare, doomsday-type scenarios that MLB hasn't had to deal with, aside from the 2002 attack of Kansas City Royals coach Tom Gamboa by a father-son duo, which was scary but could have been much, much worse. It goes to show, however, that things can take a turn for the unexpected—and worse—very quickly.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, of course, the proximity of fans to the field—and players—is part of the fun and charm of going to a baseball game. Hey, who doesn't enjoy when the interactions turn out like this:

Or this classic:

The close quarters, though, also are a big reason why the sort of incidents we've seen so far this season are happening and are able to happen. It's also why baseball seems to be the only sport in which this can be—and is—a routine part of the action.

After all, players are paid to get outs any way they can, including going after fly balls and pop-ups that approach and even enter into the stands. That's where the lines between a player's territory and a fan's can become blurred rather easily, as we saw with Adams and the fan in Cincinnati.

So what might MLB do to address this issue? First off, let's state plainly that this is about proactive prevention rather than reactionary cleanup. While the former might result in some negative feedback and criticism, the latter would be a much, much more difficult situation for everybody.

The most drastic option would be to input some sort of railing or barrier along the areas where the fields meets the stands, not unlike the high plexiglass boards hockey uses. Those, however, are more about protecting fans from pucks traveling at high speeds, and surely, inserting that type of obstruction wouldn't go over well among baseball patrons.

Another option would be to enforce harsher penalties for fans who interfere with play—or worse, rush onto the field. For the most part, those fans already face pretty steep repercussions, from being removed or even banned from the stadium to being arrested, charged and prosecuted in legal settings.

Admittedly, though, it's hard to expect fans to simply stop reaching for or pursuing baseballs that are still around the field and live but coming near them, even if the consequences are more severe. That reaction is more or less human nature.

The league could call for extra security at stadiums in areas where players and fans are close enough to physically interact with each other. That might help some, and it would also create more security jobs at ballparks, which would appear to make that a win-win scenario, assuming an extra usher/guard would be enough of a deterrent and capable of responding quickly to any entanglements.

The bottom line here is that fans simply might be a little too close to the action. Perhaps, then, the best solution would be to set back the seats that surround the field of play at stadiums a few rows, creating a slightly wider gap between the fans and the field—not to mention the players who happen to be chasing after a fly ball or pop-up.

This would also help stem the occasional fan interference. Usually this isn't that big of a deal, like when a fan touches a fair ball hit down the line and has to be deemed a ground-rule double, or when a fan attempts to catch a fly ball near the wall that then needs to be reviewed to determine whether it was a home run.

But then again, were this implemented, there would be no more Jeffrey Maiers and Steve Bartmans. And that could be seen as a bad thing—or a good thing, depending on your perspective.

Would a few extra feet of space be all that much to ask? Would fans be so upset if it meant their "front-row seats" became the equivalent of, say, sitting in the third row?

Surely, some fans would be bothered by this, but they would get over it and forget soon enough. If anything, owners might complain more: They'd be losing out on a couple hundred high-priced tickets per game.

In the end, this wouldn't be a perfect answer all by itself. It might make sense to increase security while also distancing the fans from the field just a tad. But if a few feet of space could make a huge difference in terms of preventing major incidents between players and fans, isn't that worth it?

Besides, when have people ever argued against getting more room? A little space might do us all some good.

To talk baseball or fantasy baseball, check in with me on Twitter: @JayCat11