CHICAGO -- White Sox manager Rick Renteria said the area near the right-field corner of Guaranteed Rate Field has never led him to warn any of his players regarding a possible safety issue.
"Not me, in particular, no," Renteria said before Friday's game against the Texas Rangers.
The safety of the area in question became a hot topic on Friday in the aftermath of the season-ending injury suffered by New York Yankees rookie Dustin Fowler in Thursday's game. In the first inning of his first big league game, Fowler chased a foul fly off the bat of Chicago's Melky Cabrera at full speed, crashing against the low fence and in the process rupturing the patella tendon of his right knee.
"I think when they are out there working, [my players] kind of know what they're dealing with in terms of the fencing," Renteria said. "When you go to different ballparks, I don't think we're unique in that regard. There are other ballparks that have the same low-lying fence. I don't know what else, honestly, that could have been done."
Fowler underwent surgery at a Chicago-area hospital after the game. He will miss the rest of the season.
In his postgame comments, a shaken Yankees manager Joe Girardi alluded to an "electrical box" attached to the rail above the fence as possibly contributing to the severity of Fowler's injury.
"I would simply say that that young man went after the ball with tremendous vigor," Renteria said. "I would say that [lack of] familiarity with the ballpark surroundings [played a role]. We all got upset. You never want to see anybody get injured. I hope he's recovering well. I know he had surgery last night."
According to the White Sox, the boxes in question are actually Wi-Fi projectors that were installed two years ago in every big league ballpark by Major League Baseball to provide internet service for fans attending games. They are affixed in various parts of the ballpark, roughly in 20-foot intervals, and are attached on the seat-side part of the rail, offset about three to four inches in the direction of the fans.
"Before the season starts, our stadium operations folks take pictures and submit a report to Major League Baseball," White Sox spokesman Scott Reifert said. "They've got a report and images of the whole field of play before the season starts. Nothing has really changed this season for us."
Besides the presence of the boxes, Girardi also referred to the short walls as being a possible factor. The walls along both foul lines at Guaranteed Rate Field were shortened during a round of renovations about 15 years ago.
A spokesman for the Major League Baseball Players Association said in an email to The Associated Press, "We are gathering information and anticipate discussing this with Major League Baseball,'' when asked about the Yankees saying a lack of padding caused Fowler's injury.
"I think there is just a newness that occurs," Renteria said. "He probably had a lot of adrenaline going. I know when we were watching him go after the ball, we were going, 'Man, this kid is flying'. As he got near the track, we were saying to ourselves 'slow down' or maybe was going to slide. Obviously, he was intent and focused on that baseball. We feel bad for him, we sincerely do."