The Chicago White Sox are making history Monday as the first team in Major League Baseball to extend the protective netting from foul pole-to-foul pole.
The move comes after a foul ball hit by White Sox left fielder Eloy Jimenez on June 10 struck a woman in the stands at Guaranteed Rate Field, sending her to the hospital. One week after the incident, Chicago announced its decision to extend the protective netting in an effort to further protect spectators.
The netting makes its debut Monday night as the White Sox open a 10-game homestand.
(See how it looks here)
A number of other fans also have been hit by foul balls this season, including another grizzly incident that left a young girl severely injured at Minute Maid Park back on May 29. But besides the Washington Nationals’ recent decision to extend the netting at Nationals Park nearly to each of the foul poles, no other organization has taken the measures to implement full protective netting on its home turf.
