How far must a ball travel to be a home run? Depends on the MLB stadium.

[SoxJox]

From Kevin Schaul at the Washington Post.

By the by, of the world's major sports played on measured fields, is baseball the only one in which the entire filed is not formally defined?

Baseball is a game of inches.

Unless we’re talking about the outfield fences.

In a typical major league ballpark, center field stands 400 feet from home plate. But for a home run in Detroit, you’ll have to hit the ball 22 feet farther. In San Francisco a measly 305-footer down the right field line could be a home run. These stadium quirks are beloved. They’re called charm.

The charm affects outcomes of games, of course. More than 1,000 batted balls this year resulted in outs that would have been a home run in a different ballpark, according to Baseball Savant. Those coulda-beens would have pushed this year’s home run total from 3,535 to 4,546, as of July 25.

Baseball Savant uses the ball trajectory, field dimensions and environmental characteristics like air temperature to calculate in which parks a ball would have been a home run. Those calculations are rolled up into expected home runs. A ball that would have been a home run in half of all ballparks is worth 0.5 expected home runs.

By this measure, the Tampa Bay Rays are the biggest winner, having hit 19 more home runs than expected because of favorable stadium factors. Their top two home run hitters, Jose Siri and Isaac Parades, have squeezed out a combined eight extra homers, often by pulling the ball over the short left field at Tropicana Field.

On the other end are the poor, poor Kansas City Royals, who’ve been robbed of 18 homers. Their left fielder Edward Olivares is the unluckiest player in MLB, with just six home runs but 11.4 expected. Last month he hit a ball 421 feet at Tropicana Field, but was unfortunate enough to do it in one of six stadiums that could keep it in play.

No stadium is quirkier than Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox. Boxed in by a tight street grid in left field, the fence is just 310 feet from home plate. To counter a deluge of would-be homers, builders made the fence — known as the Green Monster — 37 feet high.

But right field is arguably weirder. At the foul line, the fence stands at a league-shortest 300 feet. But just a few degrees toward center field, the fence becomes the league longest, stretching to 380 feet.

Why is Fenway so weird? It’s the oldest MLB stadium in use, built at a time when ballparks were defined by the neighborhoods of the cities they were in. After a shift to cookie-cutter stadiums all with similar dimensions, newer parks have been designed to reclaim that charm.

As John Updike once quipped, a lyric little bandbox of a ballpark.



The teams helped and hurt most by where they hit long balls
Expected home runs considers factors including fence dimensions, air temperature and ballpark altitude. Data as of July 24.

 

[Time to Mo Vaughn]

From Kevin Schaul at the Washington Post.

By the by, of the world's major sports played on measured fields, is baseball the only one in which the entire filed is not formally defined?



As John Updike once quipped, a lyric little bandbox of a ballpark.

View attachment 68286

The teams helped and hurt most by where they hit long balls
Expected home runs considers factors including fence dimensions, air temperature and ballpark altitude. Data as of July 24.

View attachment 68287

Soccer

"The two goal lines are between 45 and 90 m (49 and 98 yd) wide and have to be of the same length. The two touchlines are between 90 and 120 m (98 and 131 yd) long and have to be of the same length.[3] All lines on the ground are equally wide, not to exceed 12 cm (5 in). The corners of the pitch are marked by corner flags.

For international matches the field dimensions are more tightly constrained; the goal lines are between 64 and 75 metres (70 and 82 yards) wide and the touchlines are between 100 and 110 m (110 and 120 yd) long."

 

[SoxJox]

Soccer

"The two goal lines are between 45 and 90 m (49 and 98 yd) wide and have to be of the same length. The two touchlines are between 90 and 120 m (98 and 131 yd) long and have to be of the same length.[3] All lines on the ground are equally wide, not to exceed 12 cm (5 in). The corners of the pitch are marked by corner flags.

For international matches the field dimensions are more tightly constrained; the goal lines are between 64 and 75 metres (70 and 82 yards) wide and the touchlines are between 100 and 110 m (110 and 120 yd) long."

Yes, but they are consistent within a league or level, no?

 

[curly2]

I have to admit, I didn't know that about soccer until Ted Lasso tried to invoke "Hoosiers."

 

[lars10]

Yes, but they are consistent within a league or level, no?

No. For example Premiere League fields aren't all the same size.

https://sqaf.club/are-premier-league-pitches-the-same-size/

Edit: I also just looked this up because I was wondering... and it's sort of related. There are no rules about how large a Cricket field can be. They vary a lot in size.

Also true of Australian rules football and Rugby... their are no fixed dimensions.

It may be more true that the other American sports (football, hockey, basketball) are some of the only sports with fixed dimensions.

Edit2: Tennis, Badminton, and other racket sports seem to have fixed court dimensions but I don't know if the out of bounds areas are all the same..
Polo also has a fixed field size.

 

[pedro1918]

Yes, but they are consistent within a league or level, no?

Not sure about other leagues, but the Premier League’s pitch sizes are not all the same.

 

[pedro1918]

Never mind.

 

[Humphrey]

Not sure about other leagues, but the Premier League’s pitch sizes are not all the same.

Women's World Cup seems to have more or less consistent width in the several stadiums they've been using, 70-72 yards. I can't really tell the lengths.

 

[dhappy42]

From Kevin Schaul at the Washington Post.

By the by, of the world's major sports played on measured fields, is baseball the only one in which the entire filed is not formally defined?



As John Updike once quipped, a lyric little bandbox of a ballpark.

View attachment 68286

The teams helped and hurt most by where they hit long balls
Expected home runs considers factors including fence dimensions, air temperature and ballpark altitude. Data as of July 24.

View attachment 68287

Cricket. Cricket grounds vary in size.

The size of a cricket ground (playing area) varies as its diameter can be in the range of 137.16 meters to 150 meters. The shortest boundary on a cricket field can be 59.43 meters from the cricket pitch, and the longest boundary can not exceed 82.29 meters. An international stadium typically has a minimum of 17,000 m2 of a grass field.
https://cricketmastery.com/cricket-ground-sizes/

 

[Royal Reader]

Kent's Cricket ground used to have a whole ass tree growing in the middle of it.

 

[dhappy42]

Kent's Cricket ground used to have a whole ass tree growing in the middle of it.

Similar to the on-field flag poles in some baseball stadiums.
https://www.mlb.com/news/tal-s-hill-heads-off-into-baseball-history-c211587474

 

[SoxJox]

Similar to the on-field flag poles in some baseball stadiums.
https://www.mlb.com/news/tal-s-hill-heads-off-into-baseball-history-c211587474

What a great little tidbit: Philadelphia's "Baker's Wall" in right field, which stood 23 feet taller than The Monster.

And this about the Polo Grounds and its 440-foot distance to dead center field: As for hitters, it is believed that only four players ever reached the center-field bleachers with a home run -- with the last two hit on consecutive days by Hall of Famers Lou Brock and Hank Aaron, respectively, on June 17-18, 1962. Brock hit his as a Chicago Cub in the first inning vs Al Jackson, in the first game of a double-header. Aaron hit his as a Milwaukee Brave vs the Mets' Jay Hook in the 3rd inning.

I actually can't believe that about Brock. He was not exactly known for his power (149 HR over a 19-year career).

 

[snowmanny]

so if the thesis is that ballparks are not uniform and this leads to some built in quirks that may be seen as unfair, we knew that.

But when they had that cookie-cutter phase of baseball parks (eg three rivers, riverfront, Busch - 330 down the lines, 400 to CF, 375 to the power alleys) it was boring as hell.

 

[Curt S Loew]

NHL didn't always conform. The old Garden and Chicago stadium were smaller ice surfaces.

They are all standard ice surface now, but the boards can be slightly different in some of them, so there's that.

 

[Over Guapo Grande]

I would love if there were differences... widths or lengths of basketball courts. More extreme being the height of the rim (allow for a +/- 3" variance). Goals in hockey being between x and x+3" wide. Add more home field advantage.

 

[Over Guapo Grande]

And as for major sports with different specs each time, how about the golf tours?

 

[reggiecleveland]

Similar to the on-field flag poles in some baseball stadiums.
https://www.mlb.com/news/tal-s-hill-heads-off-into-baseball-history-c211587474

I remember hearing one dumbass field had monuments in CF.

 

[Lose Remerswaal]

And as for major sports with different specs each time, how about the golf tours?

Let’s see Candlepins at a random PBA tournament

 

[Over Guapo Grande]

Let’s see Candlepins at a random PBA tournament

I meant more that some places have 500 yard par 4s, while others have 570 yard par 5s. Or a 310 yard par 4 and a 270 par :. That’s what makes the game enjoyable— imagine cookie cutter golf courses ?? No thanks

 

[Lose Remerswaal]

I meant more that some places have 500 yard par 4s, while others have 570 yard par 5s. Or a 310 yard par 4 and a 270 par :. That’s what makes the game enjoyable— imagine cookie cutter golf courses ?? No thanks

Totally agree.

 

[Mr. Wednesday]

NHL didn't always conform. The old Garden and Chicago stadium were smaller ice surfaces.

They are all standard ice surface now, but the boards can be slightly different in some of them, so there's that.

College hockey still isn't standardized. As far as I know, all rinks are 200 ft in length (though I think Northeastern's Matthews and Lowell's Tully Forum were under 200 ft as late as the mid 1990s) but widths vary from 85 (NHL standard) to 100 (Olympic standard) with several intermediate widths. Additionally, college allows for the benches to be on opposite sides of the ice.

And as for major sports with different specs each time, how about the golf tours?

The PBA uses different oil patterns (which lead to different shot shapes the players need to play) in every tournament, even though the lane dimensions are always the same.

 

[jon abbey]

And as for major sports with different specs each time, how about the golf tours?

Tennis' four major tournaments are all held in wildly different conditions, three different surfaces and the two hardcourt ones are on opposite sides of the world (NYC/Melbourne).

 

[Over Guapo Grande]

The PBA uses different oil patterns (which lead to different shot shapes the players need to play) in every tournament, even though the lane dimensions are always the same.

Things I learned recently.
That makes a ton of sense. Thanks

 

[Over Guapo Grande]

Tennis' four major tournaments are all held in wildly different conditions, three different surfaces and the two hardcourt ones are on opposite sides of the world (NYC/Melbourne).

Ergo, the premise in the WaPo article that baseball is unique due to it's... uniqueness... is, dare I say, off base?