Major League Baseball franchise the Atlanta Braves has become the latest team to extend protective netting at its ballpark to lower the risk of fans being hit by batted balls.
Protective netting at SunTrust Park will now extend to the stadium’s foul poles, with the project due to be finished by the end of next month.
The Braves join a number of MLB teams, including the Toronto Blue Jays, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox, to have introduced similar measures this summer.
The Braves said the move will provide additional protection for fans while “preserving the overall game-day experience”.
Netting at SunTrust Park currently stretches from behind home plate to the far end of the dugouts and under the new plans, all fans sitting in lower-level sections from behind the plate to the foul poles will be protected.
SunTrust Park opened in March 2017 and has a capacity of just over 41,000.
Teams are moving to step up safety provisions at ballparks after Linda Goldbloom, a mother of three and grandmother of seven, died in August 2018 after being struck on the head by a batted ball at Dodger Stadium.
Image: Thechased
Share this