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MLB player calls for more safety netting after foul ball hit young child in Cleveland

Smokies Stadium made changes to its safety netting about two years ago to help protect fans.

SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. — After his foul ball struck a three-year-old child, Cleveland Indians player Francisco Lindor called for extended netting at ballparks nationwide.

"I encourage every MLB team to put the nets all the way down," he told reporters.

At Smokies Stadium in Sevierville, the safety nets extend from home plate to the far end of each dugout along the first and third baselines. 

Smokies Baseball marketing and community relations manager Connor Pearce said safety is the team's top priority. 

"Everybody seated behind the dugout and in is protected, which really takes up about 50% of our stadium," he said. "We want [the fans] to have a good time and part of having a good time is feeling safe."

Baseball fan Eddie Stolts said he believes all ballparks should have safety netting. 

"In baseball, safety netting is indispensable," Stolts said. "The average fan normally is not really quite watching the game you know as close as they should."

Foul balls injure an average of 1,750 fans every year, according to a 2014 study by Bloomberg News. The study said most of the injuries are minor, but some are serious or even fatal. 

"A foul ball could really do damage to a young kid an, older gentleman or anyone really," Stolts said. 

He said he thinks the Smokies have a proper amount of netting, and that any additions would obstruct the view too much for fans.

Pearce acknowledged that their extensive netting does not please everyone, but that the reactions from fans have been overwhelmingly positive.

"Some of the die-hard baseball fans might find it kind of a pain," he said. "But everybody's really happy with the extended nets, it just adds, like I said, another element of safety."

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