Baseball park

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Nationals Park, the newest ballpark in Major League Baseball.

A baseball park, baseball stadium, or ball park / ballpark is the field of play in the game of baseball and the spectator seating areas (if any) and any other features connected with it.

The flexible rules about baseball fields (aside from the rigid rules of sizes of basepaths and pitcher's mound) allow ballparks to have their own individual character and quirks. This is true at all levels of baseball, amateur and professional, in countless cities and towns where the game is played. This article focuses on Major League Baseball venues, which typically have the largest seating areas and receive the broadest media coverage.

[edit] General characteristics

Diagram of a baseball infield.

The infield is a rigidly structured "diamond" (actually a square) containing the bases, home plate, and the pitcher's mound. Two white foul lines run perpendicular along two of the sides from the plate, forming the boundaries of what's in play and what's out of play.

Next to first and third base, are two coach's boxes, where the first and third base coaches guide the baserunners. Farther on the other side of the foul lines are the dugouts where the teams and coaches sit when they're not out on the field.

Beyond the infield, and between the foul lines, is a large grass outfield, generally twice the depth of the infield. The other side of the outfield is set by the outfield fences, which end the field of play. There are also fences in foul territory, although these are significantly lower in most places, especially around the infield.

In modern days, a ballpark is mostly surrounded by a multi-tiered seating structure, a grandstand. This often ends a short distance into fair territory, the area beyond the outfield fences being a more open area, perhaps with a view of the buildings beyond. This open area may contain shorter disconnected grandstands, bleacher seats, scoreboards, fountains, or open-air museums, just to name a few. In some Jewelbox and multi-purpose parks, the grandstand completely surrounds the field.

Starting with Yankee Stadium in 1923 (as an actual footrace track) and now present in all ballparks, there is a dirt (or in some parks, rubberized track surface) area roughly 10 feet wide which runs all about the perimeter of the field, called the "warning track". As the name indicates, this track is intended to warn fielders (especially outfielders) that they are approaching a boundary wall of the playing field.

The term "ballpark" is sometimes used ambiguously, as either the entire structure or just the playing field. A home run which occurs within the confines of the playing field is typically called an "inside-the-park" home run, as opposed to a home run over a fence and into the seats (if any). That might be referred to as a home run "out of the ballpark". That phrase is more often used to mean a home run which clears the stands and lands outside the building.

Picture of Fenway Park. The famed Green Monster can be seen on the right side of this picture.

[edit] Variations

The structure of the infield is very rigid. However, like its British relative cricket, there is significant amount of flexibility in the shape and size of the rest of the playing area. This is distinctive from "goal" games such as football, soccer, and basketball, in which the entire playing area is fixed in size. In order to prevent "cheap" home runs, ballparks at particular levels of play usually specify a minimum distance from home plate to the outfield fences, along with recommendations for the size of the foul ground. Generally, the higher up the skill level, the deeper the minimum dimensions must be. In the major leagues, a rule was passed in 1958 (official rules) that compelled any new fields built after that point to have a minimum distance of 325 feet from home plate to the fences in left and right field, and 400 feet to center. (Rule 1.04, Note(a)). Despite this rule (which was passed to prevent any more situations like the Los Angeles Coliseum), the modern parks have sometimes received "special dispensation" to skirt these rules somewhat. The older parks such as Fenway Park were "grandfathered."

Picture of Yankee Stadium showing its left field fence, which is famous for being farther than the right.

As there is merely a minimum, and no set distance (and even the minumums aren't strictly enforced), there is a great amount of flexibility. These distances vary from park to park, and can even change drastically in the same park. This can be seen in Yankee Stadium, whose odd-shaped plot of land caused right field to be over 100 feet shorter than left, although this has lessened over the years. The Polo Grounds had very short fences on the lines. It was 258 feet to right and 280 to left, and the upper deck hung over into the infield in left. In contrast, the deepest part of center field in the bathtub-shaped Polo Grounds was nearly 500 feet from home plate.

The heights of the fences can also change greatly, the best example being the 37-foot high Green Monster in Fenway Park's left field. Such tall fences were often used to stop easy home runs in a section where the fences were shorter, or there was little space between the fence and street beyond, although this practice has lessened in more recent years. Some in-play scoreboards and high fences reached 50 to 60 feet, whereas a few outfields were even lined with hedges rather than normal fences or walls. The Metrodome, the current home of the Minnesota Twins, has a 23-foot right field "fence" which is actually a relatively thin blue plastic sheet covering folded-up football seats. It is often called the "Baggie" or the "Hefty bag".

Some parks don't even have regularly shaped fences. While some parks may have round swooping fences or rigidly angled fences, some may have a big change in direction or irregular angle. Some retro parks, such as Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, throw in a sudden inward turn (often referred to as a jog) just to give a little quirkiness to the design.

Originally, and mostly in the Jewelbox Parks, these variations where the result of the shape of the property on which the park was constructed. If there was a street beyond left field, left field would be shorter, and if the distance was too short, the fence would be higher. Now, these variations are mostly influenced by the specifications and the whims of the designers. The retro parks, which try to recapture the feel of the Jewelboxes, are designed to have these quirks and variations.

[edit] Current Major League Ballparks

[edit] Ballpark Dimensions

The numbers mean the number of feet from home plate to the wall of that part of the field. Left and Right Field normally refer to the distances along the foul lines. Left Center and Right Center are the approximate power alley figures. Center Field could mean straightaway center field or it could mean to the deepest part of the center field area. Backstop refers to the distance behind home plate to the backstop screen. These numbers [1] are one researcher's opinion of the true values and may differ from the numbers marked on the wall/fence by as much as 30 feet. Capacity[2] figures may also vary.

Stadium	Team	City	Capacity	Left Field	Left Center Field	Center Field	Right Center Field	Right Field	Backstop
Angel Stadium of Anaheim	Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim	Anaheim, California	45,050	330’	382’	400’	365’	330’	59’
AT&T Park	San Francisco Giants	San Francisco, California	41,503	339’	368’	399’	378 ‘	309’	48’
Busch Stadium	St. Louis Cardinals	St. Louis, Missouri	46,861	335’	375’	400’	375 ‘	335’	55’
Chase Field	Arizona Diamondbacks	Phoenix, Arizona	49,033	330’	376’	407’	376 ‘	335’	58’
Citizens Bank Park	Philadelphia Phillies	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	43,647	329’	355’	401’	357 ‘	330’	60’
Comerica Park	Detroit Tigers	Detroit, Michigan	41,070	345’	370’	420’	388 ‘	330’	62’
Coors Field	Colorado Rockies	Denver, Colorado	50,445	347’	390’	415’	382 ‘	350’	54’
Dodger Stadium	Los Angeles Dodgers	Los Angeles, California	56,000	330’	368’	400’	368 ‘	330’	53’
Dolphin Stadium	Florida Marlins	Miami, Florida	36,331*	330’	360’	434’	373 ‘	345’	55’
Fenway Park	Boston Red Sox	Boston, Massachusetts	39,605****	310’	335’	390’†	380 ‘	302’	54’
Great American Ball Park	Cincinnati Reds	Cincinnati, Ohio	40,008	328’	365’	404’	365 ‘	325’	52’
Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	Minnesota Twins	Minneapolis, Minnesota	46,564**	343’	370’	408’	352 ‘	327’	60’
Progressive Field	Cleveland Indians	Cleveland, Ohio	43,345	325’	360’	405’	375‘	325’	60’
Kauffman Stadium	Kansas City Royals	Kansas City, Missouri	40,625	330’	375’	410’	375‘	330’	50’
McAfee Coliseum	Oakland Athletics	Oakland, California	34,007***	330’	362’	400’	362 ‘	330’	66’
Miller Park	Milwaukee Brewers	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	42,200	344’	370’	400’	374‘	345’	54’
Minute Maid Park	Houston Astros	Houston, Texas	42,000	315’	335’	436’	365 ‘	326’	56’
Nationals Park	Washington Nationals	Washington, D.C.	41,888	336’	377’	402’	370’	335’	53’2"
Oriole Park at Camden Yards	Baltimore Orioles	Baltimore, Maryland	48,262	333’	364’	410’	373‘	318’	58’
PETCO Park	San Diego Padres	San Diego, California	42,445	334’	378’	396’	387 ‘	322’	45’
PNC Park	Pittsburgh Pirates	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	38,217	325’	389’	399’	364 ‘	320’	55’
Rangers Ballpark in Arlington	Texas Rangers	Arlington, Texas	49,170	330’	380’	400’	380 ‘	330’	60’
Rogers Centre	Toronto Blue Jays	Toronto, Ontario	50,516	328'	375'	404'	375'	328'	60'
Safeco Field	Seattle Mariners	Seattle, Washington	47,116	331’	375’	405’	365‘	326’	62’
Shea Stadium	New York Mets	New York City	57,333	338’	371’	410’	371 ‘	338’	58’
Tropicana Field	Tampa Bay Rays	Tampa Bay, Florida	36,048	315’	370’	404’	370‘	322’	50’
Turner Field	Atlanta Braves	Atlanta, Georgia	50,062	335’	380’	400’	390‘	330’	55’
U.S. Cellular Field	Chicago White Sox	Chicago, Illinois	40,615	335’	375’	400’	375 ‘	330’	60’
Wrigley Field	Chicago Cubs	Chicago, Illinois	41,118	355’	368’	400’	368 ‘	353’	60’
Yankee Stadium	New York Yankees	New York City	57,545	318’	388’	408’	372‘	314’	75’

*Dolphin Stadium is expandable to 68,000. **The Metrodome is expandable to 55,883. ***McAfee Coliseum is expandable to 60,000. ****Fenway Park is 39,195 during day games.

†At Fenway Park, straightaway center is 390 feet, but there is a corner in the fence just right of center that juts out to 420 feet.

[edit] Types of baseball parks

[edit] Names

Elysian Fields.

The first baseball parks were literally open fields or public parks. The genesis of modern baseball is conventionally connected with the Elysian Fields in Hoboken, New Jersey, a large public park where the businessmen of New York City gathered from time to time to play organized baseball games and cricket matches, starting around the mid-1840s. The name "Field" or "Park" was typically attached to the names of the early ballparks.

With the beginnings of professional baseball, the ballfield became part of a complex including fixed spectator seating areas, and an enclosure to restrict access to paying customers, as with a fairgrounds. The name "Grounds" began to be attached to ballparks, starting with the Union Grounds in 1862. The suffixes "Field" and "Park" were still used, but many professional ballparks were "Grounds". The last surviving major league "Grounds" was the Polo Grounds in New York City, which was razed in 1964.

The term "Stadium" had been used since ancient times, typically for a running track and its seating area. As college football gained in popularity, the smaller college playing fields and/or running tracks (which also frequently had the suffix "Field") gave way to large stadiums, many of them built during the sports "boom" of the 1920s. Major league baseball enjoyed a similar boom. One of the first major league ballparks to be called a "Stadium" was actually the Polo Grounds, which was temporarily renamed Brush Stadium from its reconstruction in 1911 until the death of owner John T. Brush in the 1920s. By then, the most famous baseball "Stadium" of them all had been constructed: Yankee Stadium. From that point until the retro building boom of the 1990s, the suffix "Stadium" was used for almost every new major league ballpark, and was sometimes applied to the old ones, such as Shibe Park, which was renamed Connie Mack Stadium in 1954.

The suffix "Dome" was also used for the domed stadiums constructed in the 1960s-1970s-1980s. The official names of those arenas also often included the word "Stadium", such as the Houston Astrodome, whose formal name was "Harris County Domed Stadium" in 1965; the Kingdome, whose formal name was "King County Domed Stadium," and the Metrodome, for which the Minneapolis highway signs direct the driver to "Metrodome Stadium". The retro era of the 1990s and early 2000s saw a return to the original arboreal terms, even to the huge domed structures, such as Safeco Field and Miller Park.

There appears to have been no consistency in which suffix to choose, "Field" or "Park". It is apparently a decision based on which suffix "sounds" better for a given ballpark name. For example, Chicago's Wrigley Field had been previously called "Cubs Park". Also Minute Maid Park was once known as "Enron Field". During the classic era, there did seem to be a tendency for more National League sites to be called "Field" and for more American League sites to be called "Park", but this was not totally consistent either.

[edit] Settings

Organized baseball has been a popular spectator sport from the beginning. The construction of seating areas to an expected need is complemented with answers to questions about where to put the ballpark and how fans will get to the ballpark.

The earliest ballparks, such as Elysian Fields, were in a location far from the city center. Each game was an event, and fans would make the effort to travel by ferry to watch the game.

With the growth of professional leagues, and consequent growth in the quantity of games, each game became less of an event, and fan convenience became an important factor. Many professional ballparks were built either near the city center or in working-class neighborhoods, based on the expected economic level of the average fan.

Consequently, the classic ballparks typically had little space for automobiles, as it was expected that most fans would take mass transit to the games, a situation that still prevails at Chicago's Wrigley Field, for example. Some early ballparks, such as Brooklyn's Eastern Park, were abandoned because the trolley lines did not go out far enough and the team was not performing well enough for people to tolerate the inconvenience.

As fans became more affluent, and especially as they moved to the suburbs and bought cars, the lack of parking became an important issue. Some ballparks remedied this problem through the construction of parking garages in the vicinity, or building new ballparks with ample parking. Others built ballparks in the suburbs, typically with large parking areas. The ballpark/stadium thus became an "island" in an "ocean" of parking space.

The modern "retro" trend seeks to cover all the bases: an urban location, with plenty of parking and public transportation available.

[edit] Wooden ballparks

The Huntington Avenue Grounds during the 1903 World Series. Huntington Avenue Grounds was the first stadium to host a modern World Series game.

The original major league parks were large wooden ballparks with the seats mounted on wood platforms, although wooden parks some had iron columns for better support. There was usually only one deck, which was sometimes topped by either a flat roof or a small upper tier. The outfield was bordered by tall walls or fences covered with advertisements, sometimes fronted with bleacher seats ("bleaching boards"). Wood was a short-life but inexpensive material, and there was not necessarily any expectation that professional baseball was a long-term business.

However, the use of wood as the primary material set up a potentially major problem, especially as baseball continued to thrive and the wooden stands aged and dried. Many parks caught fire, and some were levelled completely. This problem, along with the realization that professional baseball was here to stay, were major factors that drove the change to steel and concrete construction. Some famous wooden parks, such as the Polo Grounds, burned to the ground and were rebuilt in fire-resistant materials. Others were simply abandoned in favor of new structures built elsewhere. Their replacements often lasted many decades and (retrospectively) came to be called "Jewel Boxes". The last of the primarily-wooden ballparks in the major leagues was Robison Field, which was closed in 1920.

Other examples of wooden ballparks include Huntington Avenue Grounds, South End Grounds, Hilltop Park, Bennett Park, Exposition Park, West Side Park, Hanlan's Point Stadium, Sunlight Park and South Side Park.

Packed house at Ebbets Field.

[edit] Jewel Box Parks

The parks built or rebuilt in concrete and steel (albeit with wooden seats) after the days of the wooden ballpark are now known as the Jewel Box Parks or classic parks. These parks are said by many to embody the golden age of baseball. They are known for their green seats, large roofs, intimate feel, and major use of exposed steel, brick, and stone.

One other characteristic of these parks came about almost by accident. Most of them were built to fit the constraints of actual city blocks, resulting in asymmetrical outfield dimensions.

Although other sports, such as soccer and football were often played at these sites, the focus was on baseball, unlike the later multi-purpose parks, and so the seats were generally angled in a configuration suitable for baseball. The "retro" ballparks built in the 1990s and beyond are an attempt to capture the feel of the Jewel Box Parks.

Many (as well as their wooden predecessors) have plaques or monuments on their sites. Remnants of some Jewel Boxes still exist, such as Forbes Field, League Park and Braves Field. The only Jewel Boxes still in use for major league baseball are Fenway Park, Wrigley Field, and Yankee Stadium, although some may argue about the latter after its 1970s renovations.

Other examples of Jewel Boxes include the Polo Grounds, Ebbets Field, Crosley Field, the fourth version of Sportsman's Park, Comiskey Park, Maple Leaf Stadium and Tiger Stadium.

[edit] Multi-purpose stadiums

Aerial view of Three Rivers Stadium, circa 2000.

Main article: Multi-purpose stadium

From the 1960s to the 1990s, baseball was dominated by multi-purpose stadiums. Also known as "concrete donuts", "cookie-cutters", or "giant ashtrays", they were usually tall circular or square structures made entirely of reinforced concrete (one notable exception is Shea Stadium). The parks were built to hold baseball as well as football, soccer, and other sports. Cleveland Stadium, built in 1932, is considered an ancestor to this type of design.

However, these stadiums posed many problems for baseball. With few exceptions, seats were pointed toward the center of the field rather than home plate. Luxury boxes--in some cases, several levels deep--pushed the upper deck far from the action (as far as 600 feet from the plate in some cases). Often, seating capacity was so large (especially at Cleveland Stadium) that even crowds of 40,000 seemed sparse because baseball games don't draw as many people per game as the other tenants. Often, the only times that these stadiums were filled to anywhere near capacity were for opening day and the playoffs. Due to the need to accommodate other sports, outfield dimensions were almost always symmetrical; in many cases, even the seats right at field level were pushed back from the action. While cost effective to put all teams in one park, these problems eventually caused the parks to become unfashionable.

One other modification—cantilevered upper decks—did not work nearly as well as hoped. Many of the Jewel Box parks had badly obstructed views due to support poles for the upper deck. Cantilevering was thought to be the solution. In practice, this sometimes had the effect of putting fans in the upper deck farther from the field (especially when luxury boxes hung below them), and limited their protection from the elements.

Some multi-purpose parks, such as Dolphin Stadium, were originally built for football. Others, such as Candlestick Park, began as baseball-only parks.

A subset of the multipurpose stadiums were the so called cookie-cutter stadiums which were all very similar in design. They featured a completely circular or nearly circular design, football fields that were placed home plate to center field over the baseball field, tall outer structures and often used artificial turf. The first of these stadiums was RFK Stadium. It was followed during the 1960s and 1970's by Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, Riverfront Stadium, Busch Memorial Stadium, Three Rivers Stadium, and Veterans Stadium. The Astrodome and the Kingdome are also often considered part of the cookie-cutter subset due to their design conforming to the standard with the addition of a roof. Shea Stadium is also often included in the cookie-cutter subset due to shared design characteristics with the standard cookie-cutter parks. All of these stadiums have either been replaced, refitted to be football-only or, in the case of Shea Stadium, due to be replaced with baseball-only parks in the near future.

Today, the only multi-purpose stadiums still in use for baseball are the Metrodome, Dolphin Stadium, Shea Stadium, McAfee Coliseum, and Rogers Centre. RFK Stadium still stands, but is no longer in use for baseball.

Kauffman Stadium's grandstand.

[edit] Modern stadiums

While most teams turned to multi-purpose parks, some instead chose to build baseball-only parks. While these modern stadiums went away from the Jewel Box Parks, and incorporated aspects from the multi-purpose parks (such as seating colors other than green and fairly plain concrete exteriors), they had a more intimate feel to them, and, more importantly, were built for baseball. While the multi-purpose parks have become all but extinct, some modern parks, such as Dodger Stadium and Kauffman Stadium, have been hailed for aging beautifully over the decades. Modern parks can be often be identified by cantilevered upper decks, which forgo the larger roofs of Jewel Box Parks with steel columns for smaller roofs that only cover the top rows.

Candlestick Park is considered the first modern park, as it was the first to be built entirely of reinforced concrete. It was expanded in 1971 to accommodate football and is now considered a multipurpose stadium.

In the 70's, Yankee Stadium, a Jewel Box Park, was rebuilt. As a result, it is now considered a modern park, though it retains many of the characteristics of a Jewel Box.

Examples include Dodger Stadium, Angel Stadium, Kauffman Stadium, U.S. Cellular Field, and Yankee Stadium (post-renovation).

Montreal's Olympic Stadium.

[edit] Indoor parks

Although mostly multi-purpose parks, a unique and important type of ballpark is the indoor park. Mostly domes, these parks were covered with a fixed roof. Reasons for this varied. The Astrodome was built to escape parching heat, while the Kingdome was built to escape constant rains. There was little to no outside light, and this caused one of the most distinguishing aspects of an indoor park, the use of artificial turf rather than grass.

A park of note is Olympic Stadium in Montreal. The park was designed with a large tower over it, cables coming down to connect to the large oval center of the roof which was supposed to raise when the weather outside was pleasant. However, it never worked, and so what was supposed to be a retractable roof park became an indoor one. The Expos abandoned Canada after the 2004 season, relocating to Washington, D.C. as the Nationals.

Examples include the Astrodome, the Kingdome, Olympic Stadium, the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, and Tropicana Field.

[edit] Retractable roof parks

Miller Park.

As mentioned before, the indoor parks were built for several different reasons, chief among those weather. However, as multi-purpose parks became unfashionable, so did the drab indoor parks. Therefore, retractable roof parks were born. These parks allowed shelter from the elements, but could be opened on a nice day. To be able to support the roof, most of these parks were closed in on all sides, although the walls feature openings or windows. Because the roofs need to go somewhere when retracted, most retractable roof parks have a large structure on one side of the park itself, which is used for things such as retail or parking. Notable exceptions include Rogers Centre and Miller Park, whose roofs fold upon themselves in a way that takes up little space when open. The roofs often still hang over the sides of the park, and cast large shadows on the field or stands. This is countered at Miller Park by large panes of glass under the roof.

While most of these parks seal up airtight when the roof is closed, others are at least partially open. The most recently-built parks use natural grass.

Retractable roof parks can either be utilitarian and unadorned, such as Rogers Centre, or infused with retro elements, such as Minute Maid Park.

Examples include Rogers Centre, Chase Field, Safeco Field, Minute Maid Park, and Miller Park.

[edit] Retro-classic ballparks

Camden Yards, the original retro park.

In 1992, Oriole Park at Camden Yards opened in Baltimore as the new home of the Baltimore Orioles. Going in a different direction than the multi-purpose and modern stadiums, Camden Yards harkened back to the old Jewel Box Parks. This began the building of a series of parks known as the retro-classic or simply retro ballparks.

The retro parks shifted back to the use of green seats, use of exposed steel, brick, and stone, and quirky dimensions and features common in the Jewel Box era. The 325/400-foot rule mentioned above has been rarely enforced during this time.

Teams with multi-purpose parks longed for the beautiful and classic look, and began systematically demolishing them and moving to either retro or retractable roof parks. Since Camden Yards opened, 2/3rds of all major league teams have opened new ballparks, each of which contain unique features. Also, each of them were made to be baseball-only.

U.S. Cellular Field, home of the Chicago White Sox, was the last modern park, and was built a year before Camden Yards was built. Just missing the retro movement, it was now viewed as obsolete, and a series of renovations were done, including the changing from a centilever to a flat roof with columns, and the change from a symmetrical outfield to an asymmetrical one.

Examples include Camden Yards, Coors Field, Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, AT&T Park, Comerica Park, PNC Park, Citizens Bank Park, and Busch Stadium.

[edit] Retro-indoor Parks

More recent ballparks have been designed to look like the old style ball parks, but they have various modern features not available to traditional park design (retractable roof).

Examples include: Chase Field, Safeco Field, Minute Maid Park, and Miller Park.