The new net behind the plate

[Guapos Toenails]

Hope the video embeds...

My first gut reaction was sadness. The Fenway experience has been fundamentally changed. The net is about 14 feet high and goes from dugout to dugout. We knew it was coming, but it's a shock to the system. I suppose that we will get used to it. We got used to the Coke bottle, the Monster seats...
I didn't want to over react, but it's bad. Really bad.

 

[Koufax]

Well its going to mess up my view terribly. Yes, it's sad.

 

[YTF]

I've a feeling that if the top of the net falls directly in your sightline of the pitcher or batter it will be distracting, but other than that I don't think it will take all that much to get used to.

 

[Guapos Toenails]

Innings will get extended...no more catchers taking foul pop ups out of the second row. I suppose that kind of thing evens out for both teams...kids can't get souvenir balls from the bat boy...Ortiz can't spontaneously hug that soldier after a home run...
I think all MLB parks have this net now...

 

[ifmanis5]

If you thought people looking down at their smart phones was bad before the net...

 

[Bob Montgomerys Helmet Hat]

It looks like shit

 

[oumbi]

Actually, I think the term "dog shit" is more accurate in this case.

 

[shawnrbu]

We now have our version of Mt. Davis. Who in the media will be the first to coin a witty nickname for that monstrosity?

 

[Max Power]

It looks like the edge of the net lines up exactly with the front of home plate from my seats. It couldn't possibly be in a worse spot. Couldn't we just make everyone in the boxes between the dugouts wear helmets?

 

[soxhop411]

We now have our version of Mt. Davis. Who in the media will be the first to coin a witty nickname for that monstrosity?

It can't be our "Mt. Davis" when a majority of MLB stadiums are doing the same thing

 

[E5 Yaz]

It looks like the edge of the net lines up exactly with the front of home plate from my seats. It couldn't possibly be in a worse spot. Couldn't we just make everyone in the boxes between the dugouts wear helmets?

Or sign liability waivers.

These net things always look worse w/o people in the stands and a game going on.

 

[ifmanis5]

Taubin's Veil.

 

[geoduck no quahog]

Horrible...and sad. The natural endgame of this is a net around the entire field.

Maybe they can make it so the mesh blocks all cellphone signals.

 

[benhogan]

I wonder how many actual seats will have an altered view? Any guesstimates out there? Less then a 1000?

Will the demand for these seats decline (Secondary prices on Stub Hub may reflect this by midseason)

 

[staz]

Helicopter parents everywhere will herald its arrival.

The pussification of America continues.

 

[PC Drunken Friar]

Helicopter parents everywhere will herald its arrival.

The pussification of America continues.

Please let us all know how its continuing and what you mean by pussification? I honestly think, somehow, someway, we will all survive.

 

[keninten]

Please let us all know how its continuing and what you mean by pussification? I honestly think, somehow, someway, we will all survive.

Pussification- To have someone take care of you

 

[PC Drunken Friar]

Pussification- To have someone take care of you

I'll be sure to tell my mother that she contributed to the pussification of America at Easter dinner tomorrow. SoSH is better than this.

 

[luckiestman]

Please let us all know how its continuing and what you mean by pussification? I honestly think, somehow, someway, we will all survive.

 

[Harry Hooper]

Couldn't they have engineered something without that heavy dark strip of cordage at the top?

 

[sittingstill]

I haven't seen it yet, but the PawSox also have new netting.

The new net is made of “Dyneema”, a lightweight high-strength material that is 54 percent more transparent than the previous net that sat behind home plate. Matt McKinnon, field superintendent at McCoy, said that it is “the latest and greatest. The best technology in netting.”

The stronger net is “basically steel fiber,” and McKinnon explained that it is knotless and will replace the previous netting which had been installed at the stadium for about a decade. The previous net was made of twine dipped in a black wax to keep it ultraviolet resistant. However, that material was also conducive to cracking and deteriorating and was also noticeably thicker with knots that served as a bit of a hindrance to the fans seated behind the net.

 

[biollante]

Baseball is dying the death of a thousand cuts.

 

[soxfan121]

Helicopter parents everywhere will herald its arrival.

The pussification of America continues.

I'd pay money to see you say this to the lady who had to be carted out last year. Or, anyone who was injured by a ball.

Or better, the parents of the kid in Columbus who died a few years ago.

Yeah, it looks unlike what I am used to seeing. It is too bad that the Red Sox ownership won't need to assume 100% of the risk of a fan being injured at the game anymore. I will miss those few extra dollars that could be used for a 15th AAA relief pitcher.

The whining about "pussification" is so much worse than anything actually done in the name of fan (or player) safety. May you or a relative get hit in the face with a ball travelling more than 100 mph because you were looking for the Cracker Jack guy. The lack of empathy is America's biggest problem, if you ask me, which you did, when you posted this incredibly stupid, knee-jerk reaction.

 

[staz]

Well now.

Since cherries are in season, apparently, did you know that in 2014, more than 400 people in the US accidentally drowned in their bathtubs? Seems like a much larger crisis. What can we as society do?!?

You fail to recognize that there are inherent risks in everything we do. If you skydive, you pack your chute properly and have a reserve. Yet incidents do occur. If you go to a ballgame, you keep your eye on the ball - and the closer to the action you sit, the more attentive you need to be. It's been that way for more than 100 years, and the warning signs are everywhere. Yet fans will still get injured.

People have forgotten how to evaluate and mitigate risk. I won't sit in those high risk seats with my wife or daughter because I know they won't keep a eye on the game constantly enough.

"America's biggest problem" as you put it, is not empathy, it's a lack of personal responsibility. Our cars have automatic braking systems because we can't keep our eyes in the road, and our children have leashes because we can't hold their hands.

But please continue with your spiteful, holier than thou drivel.

 

[BestGameEvah]

Texas went a step further and installed a 6 foot high section above each dugout, in addition to extending to the dugouts on both sides. Our netting is apparently 9 feet 8 inches high and held upright by cables.

 

[BannedbyNYYFans.com]

Well now.

Since cherries are in season, apparently, did you know that in 2014, more than 400 people in the US accidentally drowned in their bathtubs? Seems like a much larger crisis. What can we as society do?!?

You fail to recognize that there are inherent risks in everything we do. If you skydive, you pack your chute properly and have a reserve. Yet incidents do occur. If you go to a ballgame, you keep your eye on the ball - and the closer to the action you sit, the more attentive you need to be. It's been that way for more than 100 years, and the warning signs are everywhere. Yet fans will still get injured.

People have forgotten how to evaluate and mitigate risk. I won't sit in those high risk seats with my wife or daughter because I know they won't keep a eye on the game constantly enough.

"America's biggest problem" as you put it, is not empathy, it's a lack of personal responsibility. Our cars have automatic braking systems because we can't keep our eyes in the road, and our children have leashes because we can't hold their hands.

But please continue with your spiteful, holier than thou drivel.

I worked with a guy whose son was badly injured at a minor league game (San Jose Giants, I believe). The 10 year old was struck in the eye and had to endure three surgeries after his orbital bone was shattered by a foul ball. His father, who is a gigantic douchebag, repeatedly went on rants about the negligence of the Giants. It later came out that his son was using his Gameboy (or whatever kids fuck around with these days) during the at bat and his father had little legal recourse. My co-worker's insurance had to cover the majority of the medical bills and the family couldn't sue for pain and suffering.

It sucks that the little kid got hurt. And it sucks that a woman was nearly killed at Fenway last season....but you're right, shit happens. In 2015, nearly 75 million people attended baseball games and there were only a handful of serious incidents. Maybe I'll change my mind when I see the netting in person but it seems like an overreaction to me at this point.

 

[Minneapolis Millers]

IMO, it's not an overreaction because the fix to mitigate against further serious injuries was cheap and the inconvenience to fans is minor. Plenty of people have been buying very expensive seats behind the plate forever and putting up with the netting. People behind the dugouts will learn to do the same or move to different seats.

I think the lack of access to the players is more of a loss, frankly, but most players don't interact with fans that much anyway. And the team could arrange and/or encourage other interactions - signing autos down the line, more autograph alley opp's, Wally shooting shirts into the stands, etc.

 

[riboflav]

 

[reggiecleveland]

People in Canada went nuts when the nets went up in rinks, for a year. Then they realized they didn't really notice. Now when I go to hockey games I find it hard to believe the glass used to be lower and deflected shots were flying into the crowd all the time.

Also, while it pisses me off to no end to tune into a game and see some eye rolling spoiled brat staring at a screen sitting in seats I would murder to have, everybody can get distracted. Once I was at a game and Manny had his glove off fucking with the laces while the pitcher was in his windup. Until Tito called time out I was not focusing on the ball.

 

[Buffalo Head]

I'm pretty sure Mike Coolbaugh was paying attention. Lets ask him what he thinks.

 

[mt8thsw9th]

Please let us all know how its continuing and what you mean by pussification? I honestly think, somehow, someway, we will all survive.

It implies we are becoming more like those feelings-having women. Bunch of pussies not wanting people to get severely injured

 

[NJ_Sox_Fan]

Awful. I wouldn't pay $25 to sit between the dugouts on the field level now. For the first time ever, I'm happy to have bleacher seats.

 

[Boggs26]

Awful. I wouldn't pay $25 to sit between the dugouts on the field level now. For the first time ever, I'm happy to have bleacher seats.

As someone who would love to sit behind the netting (and actually did last year for the first time) I hope lots of fans feel the same way and the demand/prices for those seats drop. I sat in the 7th row behind the plate last year and can definitely say that by the end of the first at bat I no longer noticed the net - if I could sit there again without doing the $$$ I did last year I'd do it in a heartbeat.

 

[luckiestman]

Wrong thread

 

[Sampo Gida]

I was disappointed MLB chose the "simple" solution. It does not affect me at all since I don't go to games often and usually sit up the line by 1B when I do , if I can. I had proposed making designated "hazard areas" kid free, phone free and vendor free, and basically use the same standards airlines do for exit row seats in terms of fitness and being alert in order to sit there. Perhaps even making helmets available for those who want them.

It would surprise me if insurance premiums were an issue dictating this move. Injuries happen every year but it seems last year they got a bit more play than usual.

In any event, my condolences to those who are affected

 

[HriniakPosterChild]

How many exit row seats are there on, say, a 737?

How many seats at the ballpark would be affected by your proposal?

 

[teddywingman]

How many exit row seats are there on, say, a 737?

How many seats at the ballpark would be affected by your proposal?

Maybe a similar, or smaller percentage?

If this net saves some kid from getting beaned, then it's hard to complain. And from a personal perspective, I only sit down there for the 8th and 9th innings anyway-- (class)--for the 1 or 2 games I see in a year.

I do hate the fact that a catcher will never again reach into the stands to make an out. Sad to lose another part of the game we grew up watching.

 

[DJnVa]

Innings will get extended...no more catchers taking foul pop ups out of the second row..

How many times a game does that actually happen?

 

[esfr]

this seems to be pretty sloppy execution - having sat in first few rows at Citi Field a few times, I hardy noticed the netting and since I was with my 13 year-old daughter and a few friends actually enjoyed the game more myself. I just checked photos on interactive seat map and the implementation at Citi Field looks is far less conspicuous, especially with regard to the top "tape" of the netting which doesn't exist st Citi. I think they bungled this. My guess is that once decision was made to go ahead with this engineering and construction got carried away and they lost focus on absolutely minimizing view impact and fan experience

 

[Guapos Toenails]

How many times a game does that actually happen?

In all MLB parks, for a full season. It would be interesting for someone to figure out the true impact over the course of a full season. I would guess that the number is small. But still, it is something.

 

[threecy]

How many million people have sat in those seats over the past 100 years without any issue?

I guess if you bring your kid to a game, you tell them to leave their glove at home, because the net will be catching foul balls moving forward.

It may seem insignificant, but it is an incremental effect. Just like one on air promotion had no effect on the NESN broadcast, yet now practically every pitch is sponsored by 'Ameeker' or is driven by Dunkin. Perhaps all seats should be protected by netting, and all upper deck seats should have seatbelts, because someone can fall after all.

 

[Max Power]

IMO, it's not an overreaction because the fix to mitigate against further serious injuries was cheap and the inconvenience to fans is minor. Plenty of people have been buying very expensive seats behind the plate forever and putting up with the netting. People behind the dugouts will learn to do the same or move to different seats.

The difference between the net behind the plate and what's up now is the angle. Just about everyone affected by the old net was looking directly through it, which minimizes its effect. The more net you put up the lines, the more people have to look through it at an angle to see the action, where it becomes much more noticeable.

I'll see what it's like on opening day in person, but the video above doesn't fill me with confidence.

 

[DJnVa]

In all MLB parks, for a full season. It would be interesting for someone to figure out the true impact over the course of a full season. I would guess that the number is small. But still, it is something.

I really don't think it is. I can't begin to guess where I'd find non-strikeout putouts by catchers, but I can't image it even moves the needle. And that's not narrowing it down to foul outs that a catcher leans into the stands for.

 

[shaggydog2000]

As someone who would love to sit behind the netting (and actually did last year for the first time) I hope lots of fans feel the same way and the demand/prices for those seats drop. I sat in the 7th row behind the plate last year and can definitely say that by the end of the first at bat I no longer noticed the net - if I could sit there again without doing the $$$ I did last year I'd do it in a heartbeat.

Human brains are incredibly good at editing out things like this. Look out a screened window, focus on something in the distance, and tell me if you notice the screen lattice. Once you focus past it, it just reduces the overall light reaching you and makes the image slightly darker, but you lose no image information. Our brains have a away of filling in information based on context that actually lets us determine signal levels that are below that of noise present. So you can understand spoken words buried in random noise that is louder, or see images buried under random visual noise. This is how those security captchas used to work until certain computer programs got better than us at identifying them. So unless you're talking about a very wide post being in the worst possible spot, or an overly thick top or bottom guard being right in your sight line, it's pretty impossible for this to affect you for more than a minute once the game action starts and you begin to focus on it. Considering the giant concrete support beams, foul poles, and other nonsense in a stadium as old as Fenway, the hardships of this implementation are pretty benign.

 

[koufax37]

Couldn't they have engineered something without that heavy dark strip of cordage at the top?

I look forward to seeing Net 2.0 at some point if people care. I'm sure the cord could be thinner and less visible, and they could have fibers in the net itself that are strong enough, but even thinner.

Mr Henry, why not have a funded contest between MIT and Harvard engineering teams to design the least intrusive net, and put a little sign commemorating the winner?

 

[Alcohol&Overcalls]

People have forgotten how to evaluate and mitigate risk. I won't sit in those high risk seats with my wife or daughter because I know they won't keep a eye on the game constantly enough.

It certainly appears the Red Sox have not forgotten - in fact, they seem to have completely mitigated the problem for your wife and daughter and all similarly situated, as well.

Anybody who played hockey with a cage growing up (SUCH HUGE PUSSIES) knows this will be a non-issue after fifteen minutes - your eyes are very good at blocking out these types of minimal, out-of-lens distractions.

 

[NJ_Sox_Fan]

Human brains are incredibly good at editing out things like this. Look out a screened window, focus on something in the distance, and tell me if you notice the screen lattice. Once you focus past it, it just reduces the overall light reaching you and makes the image slightly darker, but you lose no image information. Our brains have a away of filling in information based on context that actually lets us determine signal levels that are below that of noise present. So you can understand spoken words buried in random noise that is louder, or see images buried under random visual noise. This is how those security captchas used to work until certain computer programs got better than us at identifying them. So unless you're talking about a very wide post being in the worst possible spot, or an overly thick top or bottom guard being right in your sight line, it's pretty impossible for this to affect you for more than a minute once the game action starts and you begin to focus on it. Considering the giant concrete support beams, foul poles, and other nonsense in a stadium as old as Fenway, the hardships of this implementation are pretty benign.

Unless you like to take pictures at games, which means now you basically cannot between the dugouts from a field level seat.

 

[BestGameEvah]

They got the net from Promats Athletics in NC.
I guess there is a difference between the braided net and the knotted net.
I can't seem to find mention of the type we purchased.
Cubs, Padres & KC opted for Braided (best)

See:
https://www.facebook.com/promatsathletics/

 

[Al Zarilla]

this seems to be pretty sloppy execution - having sat in first few rows at Citi Field a few times, I hardy noticed the netting and since I was with my 13 year-old daughter....

Same at the Oakland Coliseum last year, but I would say it took a couple of innings, and then I really didn't notice the netting from about row 8 the rest of the game.

 

[shaggydog2000]

Unless you like to take pictures at games, which means now you basically cannot between the dugouts from a field level seat.

You just have to set your focus depth far enough from the screen and the same effect happens. The image will be darker, but the screen will disappear. You can then correct the image for brightness if you want. It's not a big deal to do if you're that into photography.