Dodger Stadium's existing netting protects seats behind home plate but only extends to the end of each dugoutGETTY IMAGES
The Dodgers soon will become the latest team to "extend the protective netting" at their ballpark, according to Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com. When the team returned to Dodger Stadium for a six-game homestand beginning yesterday, their existing netting, "residing behind home plate and extending to the end of each dugout, had been raised from 25 to 33 feet." By the time the team "returns for its next homestand on Sept. 2, the netting will be extended down each foul line to the point where the wall angles toward the outfield corners." Dodgers President & CEO Stan Kasten said that the team, via its analytics department, "looked at numbers of every foul ball at Dodger Stadium during this season's first half to determine the proper height and length of the new protective netting." Kasten: "We have the right height, the right length, but we'll keep learning and studying. If it needs to be made bigger or smaller in the future, we'll adjust" (ESPN.com, 8/20).
