Dodgers expand protective netting at Dodger Stadium

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers announced Friday that they have extended the protective netting down both foul lines at Dodger Stadium.

The team said the netting would extend an additional 124 feet on each side, spanning the distance from both dugouts to where the seats bend slightly outward in both outfield corners. The changes will be in place for the team’s next homestand that begins Sept. 2.

The Dodgers previously replaced the netting behind home plate and both dugouts with a 33-foot net, which was eight feet higher than the previous version.

Dodgers President Stan Kasten said in a statement that the “decisions to both raise and extend the nets at Dodger Stadium were made after extensive data analysis and consultation with both players and fans.” He added he believes the changes will “greatly enhance fan safety while also keeping Dodger Stadium the welcoming and comfortable place it has always been.”

The Dodgers said in June that they had been studying how to make the ballpark safer after a young girl was hit in the head by a line drive just beyond the netting down the first base line.

A woman died last August four days after being struck in the head by a foul ball at Dodger Stadium.