ST. PETERSBURG — Some fans will welcome the chance not to have to pay close attention or worry about ducking and diving to avoid serious injury.

Others will complain their view and, worse, their interaction with players will be diminished.

Either way, it is the new reality at major-league ballparks as the Rays have joined the other 29 teams in extending protective netting to at least the outfield ends of the dugouts for the coming season.

At Tropicana Field, that means netting — a new green, knotless product that the Rays say will provide a better view of the field than the traditional black knotted net — will be installed on top of the dugouts to create a 29-foot high barrier. That's the same height as the current backstop net, which also will be replaced with the new product. The previous netting went only to the home plate end of the dugouts.

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The new nets will be attached to the field-side of the dugout roofs and will be fixed, meaning they can't be raised or lowered before or after the games.

Similar changes will be made at the Rays' spring training stadium in Port Charlotte.

The goal, the team said in a statement, is to provide "a safe and secure environment for each person" at their games, reducing the risk of fans being struck by hard-hit balls and flying bats.

The tradeoff for that protection will be a loss of interaction with players as opportunities to get autographs, tossed balls (such as when the players come off the field at the end of an inning) and photos will be reduced.

At the Trop, there was some interaction as players came in and out of the dugouts, especially near the tunnels on the home-plate ends, though more autograph access in the areas just beyond the dugouts, which won't be impacted.

As part of the process, the Rays will contact season-ticket holders in the now-protected seating areas, invite them to the Trop to see the new setup and, if they don't like it, work with them to find a new spot.

Most likely, they're going to hear it both ways.

Alan Bomstein, who has sat in Section 111, 11 rows behind the visiting dugout for all 20 seasons, is not a fan of the changes.

"I like my seats now; I'm not going to like them when I'm looking at a net," he said. "And it will diminish the fan experience. People will be saddened by the loss of interaction. We always see kids running down to the first row to get a ball tossed to them."

Another longtime season-ticket holder, Bill Carrick, had a different view.

After moving last season from seats by the Rays dugout — where he has seen several people injured when struck by bats and balls, and his own son barely avoid injury — to behind the home-plate screen, Carrick said the extra protection is a grand idea.

"I thought it would diminish my experience. The Trop can be very intimate, and I was worried the netting would be a barrier," he said. "There was a little bit of an adjustment, but after the first few games, your brain forgets it's even there. … It really is stress-relieving, knowing nothing can come flying at you."

All other major-league teams are extending netting at least to the ends of the dugouts as the Rays are. Some are going farther. The Yankees are taking it five sections down the foul lines, more than halfway between the bases and outfield wall.

Some teams are also making accommodations for the fans. The Yankees will roll up the netting on top of the dugouts by up to three feet during batting practice to allow player-fan interaction. The Diamondbacks say they "will seek to ensure that a similar amount of baseballs" that would have gone to fans in the stands – fouled off and tossed – "will be distributed during the game."

Marc Topkin can be reached at mtopkin@tampabay.com. Follow @TBTimes_Rays.