New Target Field safety nets bring varied responses

Cindy Redmond and Bruce Kane sat shoulder to shoulder a few rows behind the first base dugout for the Twins home opener Monday afternoon. Their perspectives on this day were markedly different.

Kane, a 52-year season-ticket holder from Plymouth, considers the 7-foot-tall net stretching the length of the dugout to be an eyesore and distraction.

But Redmond, a 35-year season-ticket holder formerly from south Minneapolis now residing in Iowa, said she's OK with sacrificing an unfiltered view of the game for improved safety.

The netting above both dugouts was installed at Target Field late last month as part of Major League Baseball's recommendation that stadiums have a form of protection between the ends of each dugout and within 70 feet of home plate.

Their safety value was untested Monday during the Twins' 4-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox, but Redmond and her husband, Peter, already feel more secure.

"We have no problem with the netting. No complaints," Cindy Redmond said. "At the Metrodome, we had seats similar to this and a bat did come up and hit a woman behind us. We all ducked and she took one for the team. So it can happen. It's about safety."

Peter Redmond was initially disappointed when he learned Target Field would be the first to extend these safety nets. But the argument for safety won him over. In July 2015, a Boston woman suffered life-threatening injuries when a bat hit her in the face at Fenway Park. Bloomberg News reported about 1,750 fans are injured each year at big-league ballparks.

"I can't stand the nets," Kane said. "Dave St. Peter was kind enough to call me and asked me to keep an open mind … it was really nice. He asked me to come down [before the home opener] and see the nets, but it's hard to tell without a game in front of you.

"I'll be here for two months and decide whether I like sitting behind the net or not, and if I do, great. If I don't, then somebody else can sit there."

Kane's wife, Sue, said the couple hasn't missed a home opener in 30 years, but this one had a different feeling without a clear view, she said.

Ben West of Rochester, Minn., shares season tickets with the Kanes — and their sentiments. However, West said he is sensitive to the safety the nets provide, especially for a new generation of sometimes distracted fans.

"Technology changed things. I remember going to games and you would never look at your phone the whole time, and now it's like you're looking at it every game," West said. "You don't want people hurt. … It's just people pay a lot of money for these seats and when we got in this stadium, we did not expect this. You just don't feel quite the same. You feel detached from the stadium a little bit.

The Twins have already witnessed how the new nets might help avoid serious injuries. The barrel of a broken bat was stopped by the first-base net at Kaufmann Stadium during Friday's game at Kansas City.