MLB: Fan safety initiative leads to extended protective netting at Miller Park

MILWAUKEE -- The Milwaukee Brewers confirm for FOX6 News that the team will be extending the protective netting at Miller Park for the 2016 season.

The netting will be extended from its current location behind home plate to the inside edges of both dugouts -- and be in place by opening day of the 2016 season.

Tyler Barnes, Vice President of Communications for the Milwaukee Brewers, says the decision to extend the netting was made in order to follow the recommendations from Major League Baseball.

The guidelines were issued Wednesday at the winter meetings following a season in which several fans were injured by foul balls, prompting MLB to study fan safety.



Commissioner Rob Manfred says "it is important that fans have the option to sit behind protective netting or in other areas of the ballpark where foul balls and bats are less likely to enter."

"This recommendation," he says, "attempts to balance the need for an adequate number of seating options with our desire to preserve the interactive pre-game and in-game fan experience that often centers around the dugouts, where fans can catch foul balls, see their favorite players up close and, if they are lucky, catch a tossed ball or other souvenir. "