The incident in which a toddler who was hit by the baseball in Yankee Stadium late in the season seems to have been the watershed moment with respect to protective netting. Since then, multiple clubs which had, to that point, declined to extend netting per Major League Baseball’s recommendations, have chosen to do so. The latest: the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Brewers announced today that they plan to extend the protective netting on the field level at Miller Park. It will now run to the outer edge of each dugout. Major League Baseball’s current requirement is that it extend to the inside of the dugout, with recommendations to go farther.
The Brewers join the Yankees, Padres, Mariners and Reds among clubs which have announced an extension of netting since the Yankee Stadium incident.