I don't write about sports very often. This column isn't even really about sports, either, it's about doing what is right. In baseball terms: "stepping up to the plate." The Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team needs to do so, because it is already overdue.

In case you haven't heard the story, San Francisco Giants fan Bryan Stowe traveled down to Los Angeles to catch the "opening day" game versus the Dodgers, a few weeks ago. These two clubs have an intense rivalry, I should add, although that really doesn't excuse any of this or even really make a difference. The Giants fan was brutally attacked in the parking lot after the game (assumably by a Dodgers fan). He was struck without warning, from behind, and then his head hit the pavement. He is likely never to fully recover the resulting brain injuries inflicted upon him, and was still in a coma the last time I heard news of him.

Now, fan violence is not a new thing. The word "fan" is short for "fanatic," remember. Sometimes this isn't hyperbole, but reality. And while it is easy to condemn all such fan violence and hooliganism, that's not even really the story here. Don't get me wrong -- it is a tragedy for Stowe and his family, and never should have happened in the first place. I would say the same thing if the situation were reversed and a Giants fan had brutalized a Dodgers fan, too (full disclosure: I have been known to root for the Giants on occasion, although at heart I still consider myself an Orioles fan). It's just wrong, no matter whose team cap the victim was wearing at the time.

But the real story has played out ever since. The Giants held a "Bryan Stowe" night, where they collected donations for Stowe's family, to help them with their medical bills and the fact that the man's future is going to be quite different as a result -- with all sorts of financial repercussions. Prominent members of both the Dodgers and the Giants pledged thousands of dollars to help the man's family out.

This was all fine and good, I suppose, but looked at another way it was downright pathetic and disgusting. Because the first thing the Dodgers should have done was to publicly announce that they were picking up the full tab for the medical expenses of the family, no matter what they would be, both now and in the future. Fundraising is all very well, but this is really a question of corporate responsibility -- and the L.A. Dodgers are falling far short on this scale.

The parking lot was not adequately patrolled by security. There is no video of the event, so the perpetrators will likely never be found. That is negligence on the part of the Dodgers, in this day and age. Beyond the legalisms, though, this is just a "P.R." disaster, for the Dodgers team and for Major League Baseball (M.L.B.) as a whole.

The Dodgers are going through a very public "divorce" right now, as the team's owners fight each other in court. This got so bad that M.L.B. just took over the day-to-day operations of the team. Which may have been the underlying reason why there wasn't adequate security in the first place.

The Giants could have stepped in, as well, I should add. They could have offered to split the medical costs with the Dodgers, in a show of unity and condemnation for a rivalry gone amok. Or even M.L.B. itself could have stepped in and picked up the medical bill.

What is unforgivable is that none of them have done so yet. Now, baseball prides itself on being "above" other American sports, in all kinds of ways. It calls itself "America's pastime," for instance. It (supposedly) holds its players to a much higher ethical standard than football, hockey, or basketball does. Baseball players, more so than other professional athletes, are continually told they are a "role model for children." After the tarnish of the steroid era, this was supposed to be even more pronounced. Baseball, rightly or wrongly, puts itself on a pedestal when comparisons to other sports are made.

Which is why this whole fiasco is just disgusting. There's simply no other word for it. This guy is going to require a lot of very expensive medical care, and nobody is "stepping up to the plate" and taking responsibility. Instead, what is going to have to happen is the following: the guy's family is going to have to sue the Dodgers to get the money. This lawsuit will take years. During this time, the family will likely go bankrupt trying to pay all the medical bills. To say nothing of the legal expenses. Eventually, the Dodgers will offer to settle -- or they'll drag it out to the very end and force a court case, which they will likely lose.

In just about any scenario, the Dodgers are going to have to pay the bills in the end. The only question is how much pain and suffering the family will be subjected to before that happens. As it stands, the answer so far is: a lot.

Now, the Dodgers can argue about what they ought to pay to replace the salary that this guy would have made for the rest of his life. That sort of compensation may indeed require a lawsuit to be equitably worked out. But the medical bills are another matter entirely. Those bills are happening right now, and the circumstances are so dire that the family has had to set up its own donation fund in the hopes they can be covered. For the Giants and the Dodgers to help out with this fund is nice, but it is quite literally a drop in the bucket.

This has gone on long enough. The longer it goes on, the bigger the black eye for the Dodgers, and for Major League Baseball as a whole. I don't care what team Stowe was a fan of, personally, I would feel exactly the same if it was a Diamondbacks fan or a Blue Jays fan or even a Yankee fan (see: previous full disclosure note). I don't care. This is wrong, and it has gone on for too long. Baseball is a monopoly, and it makes millions of dollars every year off of its fans. It is time to give something back, to lessen a regrettable tragedy.

Somebody, for the love of the game of baseball, please step up to the plate and spare Bryan Stowe's family years of hardship and agony. Either the Dodgers or the commissioner of baseball (who is running the Dodgers at the moment) needs to just ignore the lawyers and do the right thing. Pick up the medical bills, at the very least. The message being sent by not doing this is an ugly and corporate one -- exactly the opposite of the ideal of baseball-on-a-pedestal. Someone needs to realize this. And soon.

[Correction: This story has been corrected. The fan's first name was spelled wrong when this story was published, due to other media reporting it as "Brian." We regret the error, and apologize.]

-- Chris Weigant

Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant