The problem is even if you are paying attention, a lot of people don't have the reaction time to get out of the way. Real Sports did a segment on this where they put people behind protective glass, told them a ball was coming and they still couldn't get out of the way. The only thing that stopped them from getting smashed in the face was that protective glass. A lot of people don't realize how quickly the ball gets on you. You're generally pretty far away from the batter's box and you think you have time to react and the ball doesn't really seem like it's coming that fast when it first leaves the bat. Then it starts to get closer and you realize how fast it's coming and how little time you have to react. Now, unlike that Real Sports segment where people know a ball is going to be coming at them at 90+ mph, you have people at an actual game that have no idea that a ball is going to be coming at them, they might be distracted by someone else getting out of their seat, they might be a child that can't see around an adult, there might be sun creating glare. There's just no reason not to have nets around the field at this point. I agree with all of this. I was just making the comment, that, currently it doesnt make sense to me to bring a young child that close while there is no netting. I have sat behind the netting and you cant even tell it's there after about 3 pitches.