PHOENIX -- With an eye toward increased fan safety, the D-backs will extend the protective netting to the end of each dugout at Chase Field for the 2018 season.
"We have long prided ourselves on providing the most fan-friendly environment in all of sports, and at the top of those priorities is safety," D-backs team president/CEO Derrick Hall said. "Thousands of the best seats in the ballpark behind home plate have always been behind a protective net with no impact to the fan experience, and we expect that those who will now have a similar view will find that the same holds true for them."
The D-backs are working with several companies to incorporate the latest technology that will allow the new netting to be knotless, which would make them more transparent.
And for fans who are concerned about being able to get foul balls as souvenirs, the D-backs said they will seek to ensure that a similar number of baseballs -- ones that would normally enter the stands as foul balls or tossed by players -- will instead be distributed during the game.