Dodger Stadium Extends Protective Netting In Time For Next Home Game
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers announced Friday that extended netting will be in place at Dodger Stadium when the team returns home on Monday, Sept. 2.
The team previously replaced the netting behind home plate and above both dugouts with a 33-foot net, an increase of eight feet. This week, the 33-foot netting was extended an additional 124 feet down the baselines, from both dugouts to the elbow bend in front of the baseline seats.
The plan to extend the netting was most recently put in place on June 24, a day after 13-year-old Kaitlyn Salazar was struck in the head by a foul ball batted by Dodgers star Cody Bellinger.
Salazar was sitting four rows back from the field and just beyond the edge of the protective netting that extends to the end of the visiting dugout when she was struck by a line-drive off Bellinger's bat.
Bellinger checked on her between innings as she sat at her seat with an ice pack on her head.
She was later taken to the hospital for precautionary tests and her mother told CBSLA that doctors confirmed she suffered a concussion.
The family wanted management to take a good look at their safety measures.
Just last year, a 79-year-old woman died four days after being struck in the head by a foul ball at Dodger Stadium.
The netting at Dodger Stadium extends to reach the edge of each dugout, but after the June 24 accident, stadium officials planned to extend the netting even further.
The Dodgers issued the following statement after the June 24 incident regarding the extension of netting at Dodger Stadium: "Fan safety is of the utmost importance to the Dodgers and during the offseason, we began the process of studying how the netting at Dodger Stadium could be configured to provide better protection for our fans. Once this study is completed, the team will implement the recommended changes and extend the netting at Dodger Stadium. The team will provide more information on the project timeline and scope when available."
Dodger President & CEO Stan Kasten said Friday, "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. We think these extensions to the netting greatly enhance fan safety while also keeping Dodger Stadium the welcoming and comfortable place it has always been."
The old netting has been donated to the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation and will be used to help refurbish Jackie Robinson Stadium in Compton.
The Los Angeles Development Fund in partnership with Kershaw's Challenge will break ground in October for the Gonzales Park Dodgers Dreamfields, which include Jackie Robinson Stadium as well as two new fields.
