NEW YORK -- The Yankees on Wednesday announced details regarding the additional protective netting that will be installed at Yankee Stadium in time for the April 2 home opener against the Rays.
The modifications will begin in February. The team said that partially retractable netting is being attached to the roofs of both dugouts, and stationary netting will extend beyond the far ends of the dugouts toward the foul poles.
The Yankees said last season that they were "seriously exploring" increasing the amount of netting at Yankee Stadium. A young fan was hospitalized after being hit with a Todd Frazier foul ball down the third-base line on Sept. 20.
Netting attached to the roofs of both dugouts will extend to a height of nine feet above each dugout during games. The bottom portions of these nets will be upwardly retractable by up to three feet, allowing fans to fully interact with players during batting practice.
Prior to the start of the game, the nets will connect to the dugout roof, where they will remain in place throughout the game.
Beyond the dugout, netting will extend to Section 011 on the first-base side and Section 029 on the third-base side. The netting in these locations will rise to eight feet above the playing field (approximately 5 1/2 feet above the wall surrounding the field of play), and it will remain in place from the start of batting practice through the end of the game.
These sections of netting may be removed for soccer matches or other events held at Yankee Stadium. The netting is the same material and width as was used for the Stadium backstop netting in 2017, and it will be field-green in color to minimize visible impact.
A similar protective netting system is being installed at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Fla. and it will be operational for the start of Yankees Spring Training on Feb. 13.