As the Mets' quest for offense grows, the dimensions at Citi Field continue to shrink.

The right field and right-center-field fences will be brought in at the club's home ballpark for next season, according to a New York Daily News report. It's the second time the Mets have attempted to make their park more hitter-friendly since it opened in 2009.

How that decision will impact the Mets' young, pitching-rich team is another matter.

After the 2011 season, the Mets reduced the left-field dimensions from 371 feet to 358 feet, right-center field from 415 feet to 390 feet, and right field by just 3 feet, to 375.

The updated dimensions for the 2015 season were not specified, but the Daily News reported that construction could begin as early as this month. The Mets' output of 286 runs at Citi Field ranked 27th out of MLB's 30 clubs in runs scored at home.

Overall, the Mets scored 629 runs this past season (eighth in the NL) with 125 homers (tied for ninth in the NL).

Friendlier dimensions in right field could benefit lefty-hitting Curtis Granderson, who saw a power drain during his first season in Queens. Of his 20 homers in 2014, only seven were hit at home.

Lefty-hitting Lucas Duda hit 30 homers this year, 14 at home.

Right-handed hitting David Wright (.269, eight HRs, 63 RBI) has seen his production dip since the Mets moved from Shea Stadium, but he also was limited this past season because of a shoulder issue.

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Citi Field's fences moving in

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) A bull on the loose in southern Utah knocked over two women and smashed through several fences before a police killed it.

Cedar City Police said in a news release Monday that reports about the bull came in at 7 a.m. Monday. After the bull knocked over the first woman, officers temporarily had it cornered in the backyard of a house before the bull broke through the fences and charged at officers.

After fleeing the neighborhood, the bull charged and hit a second woman. Shortly after, an officer rammed into the bull with his car. That slowed the bull, but didn't stop him. Police then killed the bull.

The two women struck by the bull suffered minor injuries. Police are still investigating who the bull belonged to and how it escaped.

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Bull on the loose hits 2 women, breaks fences

Mets general manager Sandy Alderson has strongly hinted at the possibility of the fences being moved in at Citi Field again and Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News hears from a team source that construction is expected to begin in a few weeks.

This will be the second time the Mets have moved in the fences since the stadium opened in 2009. After the 2011 season, the Mets brought in the left field wall from 371 feet to 358 feet, right-center from 415 feet to 390 feet, and right field from 378 feet to 375 feet. While details of the upcoming changes arent yet known, they will be specific to the right field and right-center field fences.

As Marc Carig of Newsday wrote last month, these long-rumored changes could be beneficial to the likes of Curtis Granderson and David Wright, who often hit balls to that area of the ballpark only to see them die on the warning track. Ideally the Mets would consider the novel concept of moving in better players, but assuming they dont have that luxury from a payroll perspective, they are trying to maximize what they can get out of what they already have. These changes will also benefit the oppositions hitters, so the Mets are apparently banking on the offensive upgrade and the potential of their young pitchers being able to tip the scales in their favor.

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Report: Mets moving in fences at Citi Field again

The Mets will move in the fences at Citi Field next season, a person with knowledge of the plan confirmed to NJ Advance Media. The changes will occur in right and right-center field.

The New York Daily News was the first to report the news.

General manager Sandy Alderson said at his end of season press conference last month that the changes were "likely" to happen. When Alderson first mentioned the possibility of the fences being moved in early last month, he mentioned Curtis Granderson as a beneficiary of such a decision.

Last season, the Mets hit 59 home runs at Citi Field -- the 12th most home runs at home by a National League team. They allowed 71 homers at Citi Field -- the seventh most by an NL team at home.

"It's not about tailoring the ballpark to a particular player or a particular composition of team, it's about making Citi Field as fan-friendly and as exciting as we can make it," Alderson told reporters.

This will be the second time that the Mets have moved in the walls at Citi Field. The club made alternations following the 2011 season, The most significant changes came in left-center field, where the fence was moved in by 12 feet, and in right-center field, where the distance from home plate was cut down by 11 feet.

This season, the distance to the right-center field wall was 390 feet from home plate.

Mike Vorkunov may be reached at mvorkunov@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Mike_Vorkunov. Find NJ.com Mets on Facebook.

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Mets to move in fences at Citi Field in 2015

The Mets will move in the fences at Citi Field next season, their second change since the end of the 2011 season.

But is it the right choice? The Mets' offense is certainly in need of a boost and a smaller ballpark can help prop up the numbers for its hitters. Lucas Duda, Curtis Granderson, and David Wright -- who has power to right-center field -- could all benefit.

"I think it'll be good for the game, good for the fans, and I'm sure that one or two of our players will benefit as well," GM Sandy Alderson said of the decision last month before it had been finalized.

Yet, it could also have a harmful effect too on the pitching staff.

"Since we play here more than anybody, it will help us," manager Terry Collins said last month.

What do you think of the move? Vote in the poll to the right and comment below to give your opinion.

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Mets to move in fences at Citi Field, is it the right decision?

Magic Bronson - Fences (Official Music Video)
Magic Bronson - Fences (Official Music Video) A War Cry Records Production Shot and Edited by: Elias Talbot Directed by: Elias Talbot and Ixel Madrigal Concept by: Matthew Lieberman and Ixel...

By: Magic Bronson

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Magic Bronson - Fences (Official Music Video) - Video

Visit the Unchain Guilford website

Unchain Guilford formed after county commissioners passed an ordinance last year banning unattended backyard dog tethering.

Sunday, about a dozen volunteers with the organization built a fence for Vanessa Ratlife's dog, Patches.

"I love that he's going to be free, and he can run and he can be happy, Ratlife said. He won't have to be chained up anymore and have other dogs fight with him."

This is the third fence Unchain Guilford has built, and its goal is to build two per month. Its helping families who wouldn't otherwise be able to afford it.

"We used a welded wire fence, said Ellen Metzger with Unchain Guilford. It comes in big rolls at the home improvement store. It's very cost effective. We don't use chain link because it's more expensive. We use 2'x4's and it's really a quick and affordable way to get a fence up. It's also very secure, and dogs can't dig or jump over it."

Volunteers say one thing they've learned along the way through this process is that everything doesn't have to be exactly right.

Its giving dogs the happier lives their families want for them.

It's so wonderful because I know I wouldn't have been able to pay for a fence. It's not on my income, Ratliffe said. When they told me they could do it, I thought I was going to sing! It was just a wonderful feeling."

For the organization to build the fence, a family must meet certain financial qualifications and have the dog spayed or neutered, along with a rabies shot.

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Guilford County Non-Profit Helps Families Find Fences for Dogs

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JLT Novices Chase. Click here to bet.

The seven-year-old won a handicap hurdle at the same meeting last year before adding another Cheltenham success the following month and eventually finished second to Don Poli in the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle at the Festival itself.

Thomas Crapper is now due to switch to the bigger obstacles with trainer Robin Dickin looking forward to a return to the gelding's favourite track.

He said: ``Thomas Crapper has done fabulously over the summer and the time has come to go over fences with him. He was actually ready to go chasing last year and we thought that the icing on the cake would be to give him a run over hurdles first.

``He had already schooled around Towcester this time last year and we thought that we would have a nice day out at Cheltenham at the start of last season but he won, so we decided to stick to hurdles.

``It was a shame that we came up against Don Poli at The Festival but there's only one thing you can say about coming second - it is better than finishing third!

``He needs plenty of pace in his races and I am looking forward to going chasing with him because he can be ridden a lot handier. He was always a bit free over hurdles, which meant we had to drop him out early, but he won't be ridden the same over fences.

``We have always regarded him as a chaser - he is a big, fine horse and a very good jumper.''

Thomas Crapper is one of 11 entries for the 20,000 heat with Evan Williams' talented hurdler Court Minstrel, who made a winning start to his chasing career at Newton Abbot at the end of September, and Solar Impulse from Paul Nicholls' yard also in the mix.

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Thomas set for fencing bow

A A

Allen Russell never trained as an artists but the murals he's created on the fences around his yard are true works of art.

If someone showed these colorful, detailed exterior murals to Allen Russell and told him that the artist is a novice who never tried to do art before, "I'd think they were lying," he said.

But Russell is the artist, and he insists he first picked up the paint on June 28 of this year.

"I'm 47 years old, and this is totally new to me," Russell said. "I have no art training. I suck at using a brush. I can't even draw well. But I know how to use a spray can!"

He added that his wife, Kimberly, who teaches English as a second language courses at Clark College, and his daughter Dramma, a ninth-grader at Vancouver School of Arts and Academics, "can both attest" to his lack of background as an artist.

"It's like discovering you can play the piano, and you'd just never tried," he said.

Why did he? Because of life and death.

Russell is a multi-instrumentalist who hasn't been able to make a living at music, he said, and he's a newly trained piano tuner who's trying to drum up some business. Meanwhile, a friend from California has made a killing as a muralist, he said. He's also a Gulf War-era military veteran who didn't see combat but emerged with post-traumatic stress disorder nonetheless, he said.

"Painting calms restlessness brought on by military service," he wrote in an email.

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Unlikely muralist creates works of art on fences

Bonnie Fences SAU 10 4 14

By: Duke University Equestrian Team

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Bonnie Fences SAU 10 4 14 - Video