Dodgers studying more netting after fan struck by foul ball

Staff

5 years ago

A young fan holds ice to her head after being hit with a foul ball hit by Los Angeles Dodgers' ... — A young fan holds ice to her head after being hit with a foul ball hit by Los Angeles Dodgers’ Cody Bellinger during the first inning of a baseball game against the Colorado Rockies, Sunday, June 23, 2019, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

A young fan is carted away after being hit with a foul ball hit by Los Angeles Dodgers’ Cody Bellinger during the first inning of a baseball game against the Colorado Rockies, Sunday, June 23, 2019, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers say they’re studying how to improve the protective netting after a young girl was hit in the head by a liner from slugger Cody Bellinger.

The fan was hit Sunday and taken to a hospital for precautionary tests. On Monday, the team said in a statement that it began looking last offseason into how the netting at Dodger Stadium could be reconfigured.

Dodgers' statement regarding the extension of netting at Dodger Stadium. pic.twitter.com/EwiRANZblm

— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) June 25, 2019

The team said it will put the recommended changes into effect and extend the netting. The Dodgers provided no timeline or details on possible changes.

The girl was sitting four rows from the field along the first-base line, just beyond the netting that extends to the end of the visiting dugout. The Dodgers didn’t identify the girl, who was alert and answering questions after the incident in the first inning.

The team had no update on her Monday.

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

Beginning last season, all 30 MLB teams extended their protective netting to at least the far ends of the dugouts after several fans were injured by foul balls in 2017.

Earlier this month, a female fan attending a Chicago White Sox game was struck by a ball off the bat of Eloy Jimènez. She was treated at a hospital and released. The White Sox then said they will extend protective netting all the way to the foul poles at their ballpark.

In May, a liner by Albert Almora Jr. of the Chicago Cubs struck a young girl in Houston in May. Both she and the woman in Chicago were sitting in the stands beyond the dugout on the third base side.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said last week he did not expect teams to make changes to the netting at ballparks this season, but that he expected conversations to continue about whether netting should be extended.