Major League Baseball and the NFL are targeting the laser-pointer problem.

The novelty items are priced from $10-$300. Popular with children and adults, they project a thin red beam up to 1,500 feet. They can briefly blind a victim and, in rare cases when someone stares into the light, they can slightly damage eyesight.

Last year, Texas catcher Ivan Rodriguez was touched by a beam while batting.

Kevin Hallinan, executive director for MLB security, said seminars have been held for stadium operations personnel, who’ve been supplied with red-tint sunglasses to identify laser pointer operators.

“We will prosecute,” Hallinan says. “These things are dangerous for fans and players.”

[and that doean't even mention the baseball players messing around with them ...]

USA TODAY, April 27, 1999
Major League Baseball has banned laser pointers, but the San Diego Padres say Jason Schmidt and Turner Ward didn’t get the message. The pointers emit a beam as far as 1,500 feet, a dangerous distraction
that can blur vision.

One week ago, Schmidt, a pitcher, and Ward, an outfielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates, allegedly used a laser pointer in a game
in San Diego. They avoided pointing at other players. Their prey: photographers.”