A giant, new scoreboard isn’t the only thing Rockies fans will notice when they go to Coors Field this season. There also will be protective netting extending to at least the far end of both dugouts.
On Thursday, Major League Baseball announced that all 30 big-league parks will have protective netting.
“Providing baseball fans with a variety of seating options when they come to the ballpark, including seats behind protective netting, is important,” commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “Major League clubs are constantly evaluating the coverage and design of their ballpark netting and I am pleased that they are providing fans an increased inventory of protected seats.”
By the end of last season, Atlanta, Houston, Kansas City, Minnesota, the New York Mets, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Texas and Washington had already installed netting that reached the far ends of the dugouts.
According to a 2014 study by David Glovin of Bloomberg News, 1,750 fans are injured each year by foul balls or broken bats that fly into the stands.
Last year, a young girl at Yankee Stadium was injured by a 105 mph foul ball off the bat of Yankees third baseman Todd Frazier during a game against Minnesota, leading many players and baseball executives to call for the protective netting to be extended.
“I thought of my kids. I have two kids under 3 years old and I just hope she’s all right,” Frazier told reporters after the game. “I know the dad or whoever it was that was with them was trying their hardest, but the ball’s coming at 120 miles an hour at them and the ball’s hooking. So it’s like if you’ve never seen a ball like that, which most people in the world haven’t, it’s very tough.”
When Yankees rookie slugger Aaron Judge was asked about extending the netting, he said: “We need it.”