If it's OK to have different outfield dimensions in each ballpark and different within every ballpark, why not switch them around?
If a ballpark is symmetrical, it will typically be 330 feet down the lines and 410 feet to straight away center field. The power alleys might be 375 feet.
It would make sense and be fair to have the same distance to all fields and the same height fence and for all ballparks in a league to have the same distances as all the other ballparks.
But if you suggest that to baseball fans they are appalled.
So how about 410 down the lines and 330 in center? We can leave the power alleys at 375.
That would spread the outfielders. They'd have to protect the corners, otherwise, players could pull a ball down the line and leg out an inside the park home run (IPHR). That might be better than the victory lap now taken when a ball is hit over the fence on a fly, including over the 330 sign near the foul poles.
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| The Polo Grounds, home of the former New York Giants, in 1921. AP Photo via Wikimedia Commons. |
Polo Grounds dimensions:
Left Field: 279 ft
Left-Center: 450 ft
Center Field: 483 ft
Right-Center: 449 ft
Right Field: 258 ft
The clubhouse was in center field. In 1951 Giant Bobby Thomson won the pennant by hitting a three run walk off home run down the left field line just over the fence in the final regular season game. It was the third of three extra games played between the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers to break a tie in wins. The Giants lost the World Series to the New York Yankees who also played their home games in a very non symmetrical ballpark.
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