maybe this is a dumb question, but...

I unfortunately don't have an answer. But, I would say it definitely adds personality, tradition and mystique to the game...in an unfair kinda way. I mean, when you talk about tradition of Lambeau field and stuff like that in football, the typical advantage is weather, which is hardly a controlled thing. Crowd noise can be an advantage, but that is up to the people attending to make a difference. You are absolutely right- there is no sport like baseball in which advantages and disadvantages are PURPOSELY built in! Weird stuff. It would be like having to play on an 11 ft. basketball goal in philly, or kicking through 10 ft. wide uprights in buffalo.

I guess it doesn't bother me much because it's always been that way, and both teams have to play under the same conditions at that park. I guess stats are really the only thing that suffer or benefit.

 

I think that there are certain limits to which you can build your ballpark around. Like their probably is a minimum left field wall size, and a maximum. And so on, and so on.

 

I also have a baseball question. Yesterday I was watching the UT Nebraska game. The batter struck out (swinging strike 3), and the ball got by the catcher. While the catcher ran to get the ball, the batter took off to first and was safe.

What happened here? The next time the batter came up to the plate his statline read "0-1 strikeout, run scored". WTF.

 

The rule on that is that if 1st base is unoccupied, and the batter swings at the third strike, and the pitch gets away from the catcher, the batter can run. I don't know how it would effect stats though.

 

never question anything about baseball.

"it's all good"

 

Its considered an error, the pitcher gets credit for the strikout, but the out is not rewarded, so a pitcher could have 4 strikeouts that inning, weird

 

I think the reason why the runner is allowed to run to first is the concept that the defense has to have control of the ball to record an out... just a guess on that though.

The dimensions question is interesting. They do have set dimensions for the bases and the pitchers mound. From what I understand though even the distance to the pitcher's mound has changed a few times since baseball started.

 

I wrote an essay on this once...

Baseball was *the* sport for the urban working class around the turn of the century, but most of those people didn't have the money to travel very far to go to games - they were reliant on walking and public transport. As a result, most of the older parks were built within city neighbourhoods, pretty haphazardly, so they made the fields any old shape that would fit. That's part of the reason, anyway.

 

Happened to me once in a little league game, coach was like, "run run run!", and I was walking back to the dugout. I did make it to first though.

 

I think dimsie is onto something, but also you have to realize that all the fields/stadiums came into existence at different times.

Fenway Park started play in 1912 while Jacobs Field and Camden Yards came much later.

Also, it is not unheard of fields/stadiums changing their dimensions during their lifetime. For example, old Braves Field which was used by the Braves when they were in Boston originally had 400 foot foul lines and a 550 foot mark to dead center! Talk about your ultimate pitcher's park! However, as the years went by, they (Braves mgmt) brought the fences in. I think by the end of its reign as the Braves' home, center field was less than 400 feet from home plate.

Both old stadiums in Cleveland and Philadelphia, League Park and Shibe/Connie Mack Stadium respectively, erected walls similar to the Green Monster. League Park did it reputedly to make it harder for Babe Ruth to hit homers there (they put the wall in right field)...so he hit them over the wall...lol.

Also, don't forget Yankee Stadium, which went a huge renovation in the mid '70s. That renovation took so long that the Yankees had to play their home games at Shea Stadium. The Old Yankee Stadium had a 296 foot porch in right field and a 460 foot mark in left-center. Of course, the new Yankee Stadium does not have any of those type of features.

Around 1970, the Pirates, Reds, and Phillies all opened new fields/stadiums. The Pirates left Forbes Field to go to Three Rivers Stadium. The Reds left Crosley Field to go to Riverfront Stadium. The Phillies left Shibe/Connie Mack Stadium to go to Veterans Stadium. All of these new parks had astro turf and identical 330 foot lines with 400 to 405 feet in center. They also had much personality as a flyswatter. They also doubled as those cities' football stadiums.

I think if MLB had really wanted to press it, they would have required every team that opened a new stadium/field/park to have it like the 3 mentioned above. But they chose not...it adds an interesting flavor to the game.

With teams going to new fields/stadiums all the time or changing the turf back to grass from astroturf, it is gotten confusing to me to what are the names of all the parks in MLB. I guess I could do a search or even find it on MLB's website, but alas I'm a lazy individual and might do that some other time.

A really excellent book to check into buying if you like to know about all the ballparks, past and present, is a book called "Take Me Out to the Ballpark." I believe the Sporting News helped sponsor it. I need to get an updated version of it, if they still make it.

 

Another baseball oddity: there are 16 number one seeds in the NCAA baseball tournament, but not all 16 get to host regionals.

Example, UH is a #1, but has to travel to Mesa, AZ. # 2 Arizona St. is the host.

What is the point of being # 1 if you can't host regionals? The UT softball team got screwed the same way (# 1 seed and Big XII champions) by having to play on the road in the first round.