Indians' protective netting plan is norm in MLB, but Ohio lawmakers, local activist hoping for more

All 30 Major League Baseball teams will have extended netting in place by the start of the 2020 season.

Dina Simpson doesn't think the majority of the clubs are doing enough.

The protective netting, which every big-league team extended to at least the end of the dugouts prior to 2018, is as essential as ever, with bigger and stronger players facing faster pitching and rocketing foul balls into the stands at speeds of more than 100 mph. 

Safety netting is made from specialty ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene.

The Indians on Wednesday, Jan. 29, announced that they will extend the netting at Progressive Field to cover Section 174 along the left-field line and Section 128 in right field. The measure will cover an additional 14 sections — seven on each side — but won't go all the way to the foul poles.

That, according to Crain's research, will be the norm in MLB.

Simpson and some Ohio lawmakers are hoping for more, however.

Simpson, a Chardon resident, is permanently blind in her right eye after being struck by a line drive at a Lake County Captains game in 2017. She has since become an advocate of netting that extends to the foul poles, and she found a willing listener in State Rep. John Patterson.

On Jan. 23, Patterson, a Democrat from Jefferson, and State Rep. Rick Perales, a Republican from Beavercreek, introduced House Bill 479, which, if enacted, would mandate protective netting to the foul poles at the eight major and minor league ballparks in Ohio.

Simpson said she's "disappointed" the Indians aren't taking that step and "would never want a person to assume" he or she is safe from line drives because they're seated in a section that doesn't have protective netting.

The Tribe and the Cincinnati Reds, who are also extending the netting at Great American Ball Park to the "elbows" (the areas at which the seating curves as it approaches the left- and right-field corners), are citing structural issues for not bringing the nets all the way to the foul poles.

Different ballpark configurations are why MLB isn't mandating that netting extend to the foul poles. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred also said in December that data show the risk of getting hit by a foul ball is reduced outside the elbow areas, where the stands "angle away from the field of play."

Analysis by individual clubs and websites such as FiveThirtyEight have shown similar results. Simpson and other proponents of pole-to-pole netting counter that it only takes one exception for potentially disastrous results.

Patterson told Crain's that Ohio's proposed bill is "a very logical, straightforward" step to ensure the safety of as many fans as possible. He cited stronger players, increased velocity on balls hit into the stands and distracted fans as "three factors that intersect for a very dangerous proposition."

But the state's measure, which has yet to get a hearing, could and likely will change in the coming months, leaving possible wiggle room for clubs such as the Indians and Reds that cite structural issues for not extending the netting to the foul poles. And even if the current measure does become law, the teams would have until April 1, 2021, to meet the state's standards.

"We would certainly want to look at alternative options that would still offer increased safety standards," Alex Sawatzki, a legislative aide for Patterson, said of the clubs that prefer not to go the foul poles because of their ballpark configurations.

A few of the state's six minor league teams are expected to have netting that meets the state's current proposal by the start of the 2020 season.

The Dayton Dragons, a Class A affiliate of the Reds, already have netting that reaches the foul poles at the newly named Day Air Ballpark.

The Columbus Clippers, the Tribe's Triple-A affiliate, are in the process of extending the netting at Huntington Park to the foul poles.

"We do not want fans to be in harm's way, and this seems like the next logical step for most teams to take," Clippers president and GM Ken Schacke said.

The Akron RubberDucks, meanwhile, are expected to announce their netting plans soon. A source told Crain's that the Indians' Class AA affiliate will have netting that reaches the poles in left and right field.

Plans are less certain for Ohio's three other minor league teams.

The Captains, a Tribe Class A affiliate, and Eastlake officials were scheduled to discuss netting plans late last week, Captains GM Jen Yorko told Crain's.

The Toledo Mud Hens, a Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, have netting that only extends to the halfway point of the dugouts, making Fifth Third Field the most perilous of the eight professional ballparks from a netting standpoint. The Mud Hens, though, will announce their netting plans "in the upcoming weeks," a club source told Crain's.

That leaves the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, whose future is even more uncertain than the status of HB 479.

The Scrappers, a Single-A member of the Tribe's farm system, are one of 42 minor league clubs that could be eliminated by MLB prior to the first pitch of the 2021 campaign.

"We're in a little bit different situation than other teams," Scrappers GM Jordan Taylor said of the club's ability to finalize a netting plan in the coming months. Still, the Scrappers intend "to be fully compliant with what comes down the pipeline," Taylor added.

That's only if Mahoning Valley has a team in 2021. Taylor said the club is operating as if that will be the case, but the decision will be made by baseball, which is receiving significant heat from the likes of Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine over the proposed elimination of 26% of its 160 minor league teams.

Crain's research shows that, of the 23 MLB teams that have announced their plans for extended netting or have already extended the protective mesh well past the dugouts, six will have netting that goes to the foul poles.

The Indians and Reds are two of the 17 clubs scheduled to have netting that extends to the elbows. (Seven clubs have yet to announce netting specifics for 2020.)

The height of the netting at Progressive Field will be raised from 23 feet to 33 feet, and the canopy will be removed. The latter is a nice development for fans who grew frustrated with foul balls that got hung up in the netting and never fell to the seats below, a Tribe source said.

The Indians, as is the case any time netting is expanded, have received some blowback from fans who say the mesh obstructs the view, but a rash of recent fan injuries in MLB outweighs any of the complaints.

Unlike some ballparks, the expanded netting at Progressive Field won't be lowered to allow for greater fan interaction before the game. The club said the holes in the nets are large enough for players to pass signed items through the openings.

After her injury, Simpson started a private Facebook group for fans who have been injured by foul balls at professional baseball games. She said she's interacted with three people who suffered serious injuries at Progressive Field between 2011 and '16, and wishes baseball had acted sooner.

"These organizations have dragged their feet long enough when it comes to truly protecting their fans," she said. "I'm really hoping for the day when people can go to a ballgame and not have to worry about leaving with a life-altering injury, as I did."