Baseball Backstop & Fences

This practice baseball diamond in Hurst sits in a beautiful setting just behind city hall.

The outside fence has several open places so it restricts but does not prevent access. It makes me wonder why it is there at all.

The other fence is the backstop for the baseball field. As with most, it is curved into a "U shape". Though I think this shape looks better than a straight fence, I've never really understood why they are shaped the way they are. As far as I can tell, the curved shape doesn't provide anything over a straight fence. Maybe the are done that way simply because we are used to seeing them in that shape? Or maybe it is to mimic the big leagues, where they want the surrounding fence to be the shape of the diamond so they can fit more seats into the stadium.

Also, notice all the extra cross piping on the backstop. This is to give the fence a little extra strength and keep it from bowing outward from repeated strikes by the balls and lost bats.