Apr 24, 2024 By Chris Dugan 2 min read

Wild Things president and general manager Tony Buccilli knows it’s important for fans to see the ballgame from their seat at the ballpark. He also knows it’s important that they see the game while being protected, especially those seated in the lower bowl at Wild Things Park.

That’s why the Wild Things have recently extended the protective netting at the ballpark, running it farther down both foul lines. The netting was added in time for the Frontier League tryout that concluded Tuesday.

The ballpark, which opened in 2002, always had backstop netting that extended from the home-plate side of each dugout. However, fans sitting directly behind each dugout, and down each foul line in the lower seating bowl, had been left unprotected. They were in the line of fire for foul balls, some rocketing into the seating bowl at more than 100 mph.

Buccilli said safety of the fans will always be top priority.

“Some fans have certain seating wants and needs. Some ask for seating behind the netting,” Buccilli explained.

“What has become noticeable is how prominent cell phones are with fans. The amount of fans I see sitting in the lower bowl on their phones and not paying attention to the game is alarming. When the ballpark was built, cellphone use was not what it is today. And players are bigger today and fastballs are being thrown and hit harder.”

The protective netting now extends over both dugouts and down each foul to the end of the box seats. Buccilli said he doesn’t expect many fans to complain about the netting, and some might not even notice the difference.

“I don’t think we’ll get any negative feedback,” he said. “It might take some time to get used to. We had some of our players here today and it didn’t even resonate with them. It took them a while before they said, ‘Oh, we have netting here now.'”

All major league ballparks extended the netting around home plate prior to the 2018 season. Buccilli said Wild Things Park was one of the last in the Frontier League to offer extended backstop netting to protect fans.