After yesterday’s tragic incident where a young girl was severely injured by a foul ball at Yankee Stadium, three MLB teams announced they would extend netting for 2018 — and we expect more announcements in coming weeks.
The Cincinnati Reds, San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners all announced today they were installing extended netting for next season. From the Reds:
#Reds to install additional netting at GABP by Opening Day in 2018. pic.twitter.com/XC8t36YhY1
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) September 21, 2017
From the Padres:
Statement from the Padres regarding the installment of additional netting for 2018: pic.twitter.com/t0AFwYhYUD
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) September 22, 2017
From the Mariners:
In an effort to better protect our fans, we will be extending the netting at @SafecoField.
📰 https://t.co/RLxd9wZH0J pic.twitter.com/QdCnWBY8az
— Mariners (@Mariners) September 21, 2017
Finally, the Colorado Rockies announced extended netting was on the agenda, but were not ready to make a final announcement:
Here is the Colorado Rockies statement regarding expanded netting at Coors Field. pic.twitter.com/mJAO48BlPJ
— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) September 21, 2017
After a statement like this, however, it’s hard to say that the Rockies would not be installing extended netting for 2018.
As noted, we expect many more MLB and MiLB teams to announce extended netting for 2018. Teams that have done so for 2017, like the Mets, had to deal with some complaining at the beginning of the season. But today’s netting technology is a distinct improvement over older netting, with smaller knots and finer mesh.
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