Again: the issue isn't people getting injured, it's how can the Red Sox reduce their own culpability and liability.
Kid gets smashed in the face with a ball, that's not only (probably) a lawsuit, it's bad PR, and litigating the lawsuit just results in even more bad PR. Guy gets shitfaced and falls down some stairs, well, maybe it's a lawsuit, but nobody is blaming the Red Sox for that one, and there's likely plenty of precedent where the Sox can easily quantify how costly those issues are/aren't.
That's the issue right there. Thought about this is a lot as I was trying to sleep last night, and almost came around on pro/con of the net. Mainly for me it is bad parenting and child car seats and stuff. We don't allow parents to use common sense, we mandate what they do if a child is of a particular age or size (at least in the "good states"). There's a lot of bad parents out there.
I want to keep all people safe, at least the kids that are too young to defend themselves. And kids get distracted easily; that's partly what makes them more likeable than adults, they're more playful, for the most part. They see cotton candy or ice cream, and their eyes and mouths turn large.
If this was about preventing harm, then I would be singing a different tune. It's not, it's about PR and liability.
So I'm against the extension of the net not because I am ok with them getting seriously hurt. But because I want them to have a closer interaction with the players and to see the field unobstructed. I will take a better experience for the people, I don't know, maybe what, 500,000, over the course of the season that are affected by the "new net", then the 1-5 people that are hurt over the course of the season by a ball in the stands. And the photos. We have a couple experts on that just here.
It was one thing to remove the home plate side of the dugout interaction, but now it seems the outfield part of the dugout will be lost too. And I like vision. It's probably the only thing I physically possess that's above average.
If we wanted to prevent harm, we would cut alcohol, we would be stronger against drunk driving, we would paint crosswalks better and in more places,we would install sidewalks in rural/far suburban areas. We don't do that. We act about liability. When we, as a society, actually make things about safety, everywhere, then I'll change my tune and will support a Japanese type system, at least within line drive range.