Norwich — Following Major League Baseball recommendations, extending the protective foul ball netting at the Thomas J. Dodd Memorial Stadium could bring it to cover half of each dugout, the Baseball Stadium Authority learned Wednesday.

The authority Wednesday asked Connecticut Tigers General Manager Eric Knighton to get more detailed information from Major League Baseball officials on the recommendations released in December that all Major League teams consider extending netting at least 70 feet from home plate.

Authority member Gary Schnip, who oversees operations of the city-owned stadium, then would obtain price quotes from two structural design firms.

“It's not mandated,” Stadium Authority Chairman Michael Jewell said, “but because it's a safety issue we have to address it.”

The issue of extending foul ball protective netting came to the forefront in recent years with several major injuries suffered by fans from line drive foul balls and broken or thrown bats.

Several Minor League Baseball teams already have announced plans to extend netting to cover the lengths of the two dugouts or beyond.

Schnip said one possible design would be to run the support cable directly from the existing pole at the start of the dugout down at an angle to the base of the dugout, for a triangular shaped net extension.

Authority members hope to have a response from Major League Baseball by the Feb. 10 meeting, and the goal would be to put the project out to bid and have new netting installed by Opening Day on June 22.

Dodd Stadium hosts numerous high school and college baseball games starting in April prior to the Tigers' season.

Officials do not yet know if the extended netting could be in place for those games.

Jewell said he would expect some objections from fans sitting behind the dugouts, but safety would be the top concern.

If the net is erected at the midpoint of the dugouts, fans in the front row could still put drinks and food on the dugouts, Schnip said, and between-inning fan contests could still be held on the dugouts.

c.bessette@theday.com

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