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Commentary: A foul ball struck a girl at Yankees Stadium; It's time for more nets

My thoughts on protective netting as a sports reporter and a father. 
(Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)

This commentary was written by 9NEWS Sports Anchor Aaron Matas. You can tweet him at @aaronmatas.

A debate over protective netting at baseball games has sparked again after a young girl was hit in the face by a foul ball at Wednesday's Yankees v. Minnesota Twins game in New York.

She has been hospitalized, and her father said she is doing okay.

However, it's still left many people concerned.

Minnesota Twins second baseman Brian Dozier said after the game, "Either, one, you don't bring kids down there, or number two, every stadium needs to have nets. That's it. I don't care about the damn view of a fan or what. It's all about safety.”

This situation hits close to home for me. I have a five, three, and one year old. They all love going to Rockies games, and it's not to watch John Gray pitch to Paul Goldschmidt.

It's because they like the event. They like the park out in left field and the idea of getting a hot dog or an ice cream.

The point is, my kids are not always paying attention and quite frankly, neither am I. I've often though how this exact thing could happen to one of my kids, and it's scary.

Fifteen years ago, the National Hockey League put more netting up after a puck struck a 13-year-old girl in the head and killed her.

Is Major League Baseball going to wait for a tragedy of that size to play out before making changes...or will we all realize how lucky we are that we didn’t see that happen on Wednesday and make the change now to ensure it never happens.

I have sat in many different seats at many different ballparks-- last row in the upper deck and directly behind the plate. All I can say is, I would never turn down the good seats because there was a net obstructing my view.

Extend the nets down the baselines and lets keep everyone safe.

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The Colorado Rockies said on Thursday that they've been discussing adding more nets for months:

Ensuring the safety of our fans has always been our number one priority. In fact, the most important aspect of creating the best fan experience possible starts with the protection of our Coors Field guests. With that in mind, we felt it was important to let our fans know that we have been in discussions with vendors for the past several months with regard to expanded netting for the 2018 season at Coors Field. Beginning with vendor selection, this project is complex. There are engineering issues to address as well as decisions about height, material type, material color, cabling, length and location. In order to communicate the most complete information possible to our fans, we intend to make these determinations this offseason, all with fan safety in mind.

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