Renovations to Modesto’s John Thurman Field increase fan safety

Baseball fans know it better than fans of any other sport.

The best seats in the house often require occupants to possess cat-like reflexes and a Zen master’s attention, lest they be plunked by a screaming foul ball or a Louisville Slugger that slips from a batter’s hands.

That’s especially true of the nation’s minor league ballparks, where the worst seat in the house is much closer to the field than some of the best seats at major league venues.

But fans of the Modesto Nuts won’t have to worry about such potential hazards any longer.

Spectators attending Thursday’s 2016 home opener against the Stockton Ports will notice that the club has extended the protective netting to protect all of the lower box seats.

“This has been on my agenda for about four or five years,” said Modesto Nuts executive vice president Mike Gorrasi. “In September, we agreed with the city to take this project on.”

Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball came out with recommendations recently to increase fan safety. They mandated that netting stretch from the home-plate side of one dugout to the home-plate side of the visitor’s dugout. The Nuts, essentially, already had met that requirement.

Though not required, the leagues recommended that protective netting stretch from the outfield side of one dugout to the outfield side of the other.

The Nuts went beyond that, extending the netting to the left-field and right-field entrance ramps, an additional 140 feet of netting on each side, to cover all 14 sections of the lower boxes.

All told, the project cost nearly $45,000.

“Families come out here to have fun,” said Gorrasi, now in his 16^th season with the club. “We don’t want to see anybody get injured, so this is well worth it.”

But don’t worry, souvenir seekers … lazy pop fouls will still be able to make their way into the seats.

“You might have to be a little creative, find certain areas where foul balls will land,” said Gorrasi. “But catching a foul ball is still going to be one of the best parts of coming out to the ball game.”

The Nuts will be looking to turn the tables on Stockton and Bakersfield during the team’s seven-game home stand. Modesto lost two of three to the Ports in the season’s opening series (one game was rained out) and then dropped two of three in Bakersfield.

Modesto (2-4) lost to Bakersfield on Wednesday when Logan Cozart gave up a home run to the first batter he faced in the bottom of the 13th. Nuts center fielder Wes Rogers continued his hot start to the season, going 4 for 5 with a pair triples, pushing his season average to .455. Second baseman Forrest Wall was 2 for 4, improving his mark to .393.

Thursday’s game against Stockton begins at 7:05 p.m. Gates open at 5:30.

Fans can enjoy drink and appetizer specials from 6 to 8 p.m. and will be treated to a fireworks show after the game.

This story was originally published April 13, 2016 at 3:44 PM with the headline "Renovations to Modesto’s John Thurman Field increase fan safety."