Fan at Twins Batting Practice Stretchered off After Falling onto Warning Track

A fan had to be stretchered off the field ahead of Thursday's spring training game between the Baltimore Orioles and Minnesota Twins. 

According to LeVelle E. Neal III of the Star-Tribune, a fan reached over the fence attempting to grab a ball during batting practice but fell over onto the warning track at Ed Smith Stadium.

The Twins halted batting practice for several minutes while personnel tended to the injured fan.

Fan safety has been a significant concern at baseball games in recent years, with an NBC News study finding more than 700 injuries coming from foul balls at just four ballparks—Marlins Park, Oakland Coliseum, T-Mobile Park and Coors Field—in the last eight seasons, according to Chuck Schilken of the Los Angeles Times.

Extrapolating that data to all 30 ballparks would amount to approximately 4,500 injuries related to balls entering the stands across the league in the last eight seasons.

Major League Baseball has made changes to help create a safer environment, including an increase of nets in between the field and the stands.