ST. PETERSBURG — Nomar Garciaparra told me an interesting story earlier today while we looked at the section of seats jutting out toward third base beyond the Dodgers’ dugout at Tropicana Field.

Whenever he played here with the Boston Red Sox, if Garciaparra saw a child sitting in the closest seat to home plate, he would actually walk over to that section and ask the adult sitting closest to the child to switch seats. That seat isn’t the closest to home plate of any in Major League Baseball, but it might the most exposed to a foul ball traveling at 100-plus mph. It’s dangerous enough for anyone to sit there, let alone a child, and Garciaparra figured he’d do what he could to make a difference.

See for yourself. The section juts out at a weird angle from the dugout, leaving fans uniquely exposed — particularly when a left-handed hitter is batting:

Here’s the view from behind home plate. Look at the Raymond James ad in the left side of this frame. That’s the section.

MLB recommended that all 30 teams extend the protective netting behind home plate to the edge of each dugout. Fans sitting in these seats are still exposed.