Last month, a baseball hit 90 miles per hour struck a 4-year-old girl in a game between the Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs.
Cubs star Albert Almora, Jr. took notice — he began to cry. Also watching from afar was Mark D. Lerner, the owner of the Washington Nationals.
Lerner and the Nationals announced Thursday the team will install additional netting at Nationals Park after the All-Star break. The first home game for Washington after the break is July 22 against the Colorado Rockies.
“I could not help but become emotional last month watching the Astros-Cubs game when a four-year-old little girl was hit by a line drive,” Lerner wrote in a statement. “I can’t imagine what her parents must have felt in that moment. And to see the raw emotion and concern from Albert Almora Jr. was heartbreaking. Further extending the netting at Nationals Park will provide additional protection for our fans.”
The current netting will be replaced with Ultra Cross Knotless Dyneema, which Lerner said offers greater transparency than regular netting — fans watching the game will be able to see through it easily.
Washington’s decision comes two days after the Chicago White Sox announced they would extend netting from foul pole to foul pole at Guaranteed Rate Field, which would give them the most coverage in the majors, according to Yahoo Sports.
The decision also comes days after the Major League owners met earlier this week in New York.
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