The Dodgers plan to extend the protective netting at Dodger Stadium, perhaps as early as this season, team president and CEO Stan Kasten said Monday, the day after a fan at the Los Angeles ballpark was hit in the head by hard line drive off Cody Bellinger's bat.
“We have been talking for some time with different providers and looking at different options,” Kasten said Monday (via the Orange County Register). “Surely we will be expanding netting. I don’t know yet the final configuration. Obviously, there are some different choices to be made and different products which each come with their own set of challenges.”
Kasten said the internal discussions about fan protection have been ongoing since last year (fan Linda Goldbloom, 79, died four days after being struck in August 2018 by a foul ball at Dodger Stadium).
Although Kasten said the timing of the installation of the extra netting hasn't been determined it seems “likely” the Dodgers will be able to do it before the end of the 2019 season
“I can’t say that for sure, although I think it’s likely,” Kasten said. “For sure, something is going to be done. As for the exact timing, I don’t know that yet.”
Kasten said he expects the plans to be announced in the next couple of weeks.
The young woman struck Sunday was sitting approximately four rows up from the field just beyond the protective netting on the first-base side when she was hit in the first inning of the Dodgers' 6-3 win over the Rockies.
“You see a direct hit to that lady, and it came off the bat hot," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after the game (via the Los Angeles Times). "You never want to see that happen.”
The unidentified fan remained in her seat for the top of the second inning, holding an ice pack on her head, before she was taken to a hospital for precautionary testing. A person in the Dodger Stadium first-aid office told the Times that woman was alert and answering questions before leaving.
"It was weird. I saw it literally hit her face,'' Bellinger told reporters (via ESPN.com). "I'm sure it was tough for everyone. I went over the next half-inning to make sure. She said she was all right and gave me a thumbs up.''
Roberts came out and talked to Bellinger after the incident, just the latest in a series of fan injuries since all 30 MLB stadiums expanded protective netting at the start of the 2018 season to at least the far ends of the dugouts.
The White Sox and Nationals last week said they would extend the netting down the lines to the foul poles, the first MLB teams to announce such plans.
However, per the Times: Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill is so concerned that he called the players union last week. Citing an era when balls are being hit harder than ever and exit velocity is measured (and celebrated), he said he voiced his opinion to the MLBPA: It’s time to extend the protective netting to ensure fan safety.
“It’s such a little investment to protect a life,” Hill said. “Everybody puts their seat belt on when they get in a car. Times change. A lot of things have changed to indicate in these circumstances that we’re in a different time. That’s it. Period.”
Bellinger, especially in the wake of Sunday's incident, agrees.
Asked if the netting should be extended, he said: “I would assume that would be a smart decision, just to protect those people in the front row who don’t have much reaction time.
"I saw the ball hit her face. That was tough.”
