I suppose that the center Field wall will go across where the wood fence ends towards where the concrete ends across from it.
http://www.thescore.com/news/1125480 I didn't realize our CF wall will still be further from home plate than was in the Astrodome (409 vs 406 ft).
Sure.... but check out the Dome power alleys... and the space from foul-pole to foul-pole. Absolute distance of CF is not typically the end-all/be-all of what makes it a good hitters or pitchers park. When you have a LF of 315 and a RF of 325, with shallow alleys to begin with, shortening any other dimension will impact power numbers.
Well sure. One fence doesn't define a ballpark. Moving this one fence wont totally change the character of MM park either.
If you don't think the dimensions of a park affect how pitchers pitch and how fielders (not just the CF) align I don't know what to tell you, other than that you're wrong.
I am talking about the one fence being moved at MMP, not an encompassing analysis on all the dimensions.
The deep LCF and RCF power alleys are immediately affected by your "one fence". Routine outs at the base of the hill are now potential heroic (or non-heroic) plays against the wall. Just because not that many balls landed on the actual hill doesn't mean this won't affect the overall park factor in a skewed hitters way. The dimensions are now basically a cozier Camden yards...a extreme hitters park.
DUH... when I read that headline. One of the article's argument is the Astros have a ground ball inducing staff but doesn't that mean it won't change a much because with a ground ball you the fence could be a ridiculous 1ft away and it wouldn't be a homerun. So I'm a bit confused by the overall argument. I do agree with the article that we'll have less triples and more homeruns but I'm not sure you need detailed research and analysis to conclude that.
The Astros should remove the hill and put a barbed wire fence around the perimeter and maybe a few bulls where the hill used to be.