Police: Life-Threatening Injury to Fan Hit by Broken Bat at Fenway Park

BOSTON (AP) — A woman bleeding from the head was carried out of the Fenway Park stands after being hit by a broken bat Friday night, and police said her injuries were life threatening.

Boston police spokesman David Estrada said all or part of the bat hit her during the game between the Oakland Athletics and Boston Red Sox.

The fan was carried out of the ballpark on a stretcher after the top of the second inning. She was hit when Oakland's Brett Lawrie broke his bat on a groundout to second base for the second out of the inning.

Medical personnel remove a fan injured by a broken bat in the second inning at Boston's Fenway Park, Friday, June 5, 2015. (Barry Chin/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

After the third out, the game was delayed while the fan was tended to in the stands between home plate and the third base dugout. She was taken to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Concerned about a rash of flying broken bats and the danger they posed, Major League Baseball studied the issue in 2008 and made a series of changes to bat regulations for the following season.

Multi-piece bat failure incidents are down approximately 50 percent since the start of the 2009 season, MLB spokesman Michael Teevan said.

Medical personnel remove a fan injured by a broken bat in the second inning of a game in Boston's Fenway Park, June 5, 2015. (Barry Chin/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Though dozens of baseball fans are struck by foul balls each season, there has been only one fatality from such an incident, according to baseball researchers — a 14-year-old boy killed by a foul line drive off the bat of Manny Mota at Dodger Stadium in 1970.

The National Hockey League ordered safety netting installed at each end of NHL arenas after 13-year-old Brittanie Cecil was killed by a deflected puck at a Columbus Blue Jackets game in 2002. She died two days later, and her parents eventually obtained a $1.2 million settlement from the team, the league and the arena management.

This story has been updated.