MLB Sets New Netting Guidelines to Protect Fans at Stadiums

Major League Baseball is taking measures to protect fans by encouraging teams to add extra protective netting around the dugouts in all 30 stadiums. 

Per ESPN New York's Adam Rubin, MLB's new plan will insist teams have netting for all field-level seats within 70 feet of home plate on either side:

Fan safety has become a hot topic in MLB stadiums. Commissioner Rob Manfred said in August that discussions were taking place to find a way to implement new netting, per Paul Hagen of MLB.com:

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This is a topic that is of serious concern, not only to me but more importantly to all 30 owners. We discussed it in August [at the Owners Meetings in Chicago]. We have a process ongoing where we are examining all of the relevant information.

So I think our goal to is to put the Commissioner's Office in a position where we can make a complete recommendation to ownership in November and give people an opportunity to be ready to make changes for next year if in fact we decide that changes are necessary. 

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At the owners meetings in November, according to the Associated Press (via ESPN), Manfred said a plan had come together, with final details likely being done in January. 

In August, Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander publicly called for new protective measures after a fan at Comerica Park had to be taken out of the stadium on a stretcher when she was hit in the head by a foul ball:

That wasn't the only such instance in 2015, as a game between the Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves, also in August, featured a similar incident involving a fan being taken off on a stretcher. 

MLB couldn't avoid the problem any longer, as safety has to be the No. 1 priority for everyone at these games. Too often, fans are injured due to line drives hit into the stands, and an extension of the netting would prevent many of those injuries.