The Lake County Captains (Low A; Midwest League) have announced plans to extend the protective netting at their home ballpark, Classic Park. The netting will be installed prior to the 2018 season.
The current netting covers sections 108 to 113 behind home plate, and the new netting will be extended to the outfield end of the dugouts which will additionally cover sections 106 and 107 on the first base side and sections 114 and 115 on the third base side of the ballpark.
The existing netting behind home plate at Classic Park meets the safety recommendations from Major League Baseball; however, the new netting will go beyond those recommendations and provide more protected areas of the ballpark.
“The Lake County Captains take fan safety very seriously and take many steps during each game to alert fans about the inherent risks of broken bats and foul balls inadvertently entering the stands,” said Neil Stein, the Captains General Manager. “While the Captains have many measures in place to remind fans to pay attention to the game at all times, this additional netting will create more awareness about fan safety and provide more choices for attendees who would prefer to sit behind the protective net. We have been working closely with the City of Eastlake on this project, and are glad that the extended safety netting will be in place for our fans by Opening Day.”
The Mayor of Eastlake, Dennis Morley added, “The City of Eastlake built Classic Park to provide a safe, affordable, entertainment destination for the folks of northeast Ohio. This additional safety netting helps to ensure Classic Park remains a safe and welcoming ballpark for fans coming to Eastlake to catch one of the Captains’ 70 home games, a Lake Erie College baseball game or for any of the numerous other events hosted at the ballpark annually.”
The Captains and the City of Eastlake researched many different netting materials and vendors for this project and will be working with Victory Athletics who is based out of northeast Ohio in Mantua. The existing home plate netting is also being replaced as part of this project and those sections, and the new netting sections, will be made of a thinner, stronger netting material called Dinema. This material is nearly 50% thinner than the previous nylon netting which will reduce the visual impact on spectators.