in play flag poles

[JPL BMX]

is there a rule where u can put a inplay flag pole like touching the fence, or 1 foot away from the fence or can u put a flag pole little bit farther away from the fence like 10 ft??

[Chisox73]

Minute Maid Park in houston has a flag pole that's in play,just about a foot from the CF fence.

Yankee Stadium(1923-73) had the flag pole in play,and so did Tiger Stadium

[BaylorGuy314]

http://mtimages.cstv.com/touchingthebases/HillinCF.jpg

Flag pole in play in Houston's Minute Maid Park.

[Yankee Pride]

I would hate to be a centerfielder with a flagpole in play. That could cause a major collision!! :crazy

[mjrbaseball]

Don't forget ... Yankee Stadium also had the monuments in play ...

See what Mickey Mantle had to deal with:

http://www.ultimateyankees.com/Yankee_Stadium_5.jpg

[Yankee Pride]

Yes , That must have been fun also!! :crazy

[Elvis]

Comerica Park also had the flagpole in play, however, when they moved the LF wall in, they also moved it in front of the pole. Too bad.

[west coast orange and black]

I would hate to be a centerfielder with a flagpole in play...righty-o, y-p, but that stupid hill out there is greater cause for concern for the center fielder. imagine running full-tilt and then suddenly not fully extending your leg's stride. ouch! at least the fielder knows that the pole is atop the hill, with the hill effectually subbibg for a warning track.

[a-rod13]

Wasnt the flag pole in Tiger Stadium in play?

[shoeless1920]

Flagpole was also in play at Pittsburgh's Forbes Field.
Flagpoles in play are/were way, way out there, very rarely to be of consequence when dealing with the vast majority of fly balls, and the ballplayers treat them as any other ballpark idiosyncrasy.
Tiger Stadium's flagpole was in play, a feature originally duplicated at Comerica.

[efin98]

Wasn't the flagpole at Fenway Park also in play until recently? Could have sworn I heard that it was...

[1954 A's]

I am not sure, but I believe that the Fenway Park flagpole was taken off the field after the 1975 World Series, when they took the sheet metal off the Wall and replaced it with whatever they have on it now. They also put that dreadful scoreboard up in center fiield at that time. It was a significant face lift done in time for the 1976 season.

[efin98]

I am not sure, but I believe that the Fenway Park flagpole was taken off the field after the 1975 World Series, when they took the sheet metal off the Wall and replaced it with whatever they have on it now. They also put that dreadful scoreboard up in center fiield at that time. It was a significant face lift done in time for the 1976 season.

I'm surprised at that, I thought it was more like the late 80s when the 600 club was added or when the TV camera area was added in left/center...

[baseballwise]

Funny, but I've never seen a collision or even a near-collision with a flag pole. I've seen many outfielders bump their noggins on the brick wall behind the ivy at Wrigley, though.

So what do you think of the "hill" in centerfield at Minute Maid Park??? What's the logic for that????? :noidea

[Elvis]

Funny, but I've never seen a collision or even a near-collision with a flag pole. I've seen many outfielders bump their noggins on the brick wall behind the ivy at Wrigley, though.

So what do you think of the "hill" in centerfield at Minute Maid Park??? What's the logic for that????? :noidea

The same logic that has kept 60'6" the distance to home plate when it's always been known that the 6" was a 150 year-old typo. :rolleyes:

[west coast orange and black]

...So what do you think of the "hill" in centerfield at Minute Maid Park??? What's the logic for that????? :noideathe concept is a tip of the cap to a field of old, which had a hill in center field.

my guess -- and only a guess -- is that it was sportman's park.
i am probably wrong on this particular, though. anyone???

[Elvis]

the concept is a tip of the cap to a field of old, which had a hill in center field.

my guess -- and only a guess -- is that it was sportman's park.
i am probably wrong on this particular, though. anyone???

Actually it was just an idea added to the ballpark by Astros president Tal Smith, who threw the idea in on a whim and expecting it to be thrown out of the plans. The incline is now known as "Tal's Hill" BTW.

Crosley Field in Cincinnati, and Yankee Stadium (from 1923-36) had inclined hills as part of their playing fields. Here's Yankee Stadium's old incline from the track to the wall:

[shoeless1920]

Wasn't the flagpole at Fenway Park also in play until recently? Could have sworn I heard that it was...

Don't know about the flagpole in play although I know Fenway is the only ballpark with a ladder in play.

[Sashag]

a couple questions:

1 when did fenway not have a scoreboard on the green monster, (you seemed to hint that that was the case at one point-if so, then where was the scoreboard.)

2 can you explain the 6 inch mistake that some guy made that caused the distance from the plate to the mound to be 60 feet 6 inches

3 also, what is the distance from home to second, and from first to third. (im assuming its the same distance.)

4 aside from fenway, what other stadiums, if any, still have man operated scoreboards?

5 what is the history behind that huge clock at Wrigley (??) (the one that was blown up in THE NATURAL?)

-Sasha

[Elvis]

:confused: a couple questions:

1 when did fenway not have a scoreboard on the green monster, (you seemed to hint that that was the case at one point-if so, then where was the scoreboard.)

2 can you explain the 6 inch mistake that some guy made that caused the distance from the plate to the mound to be 60 feet 6 inches

3 also, what is the distance from home to second, and from first to third. (im assuming its the same distance.)

4 aside from fenway, what other stadiums, if any, still have man operated scoreboards?

5 what is the history behind that huge clock at Wrigley (??) (the one that was blown up in THE NATURAL?)

-Sasha

1. I think he meant the center field board, not the left field board that has been there since the 30s.

2. I'm not sure of the exact details, however it was just a misprint in the original rules as they were written down, that was never bothered to be corrected. It was supposed to be 60' even.

3. I got Cs in math. :ughh

4. Busch Stadium, Coors Field, Fenway Park, Miller Park, Minute Maid Park, SBC Park, Wrigley Field, Ameriquest Field, McAfee Coliseum, Safeco Field and PNC Park all feature hand-op scoreboards. :clapping

5. :confused:

[shoeless1920]

5 what is the history behind that huge clock at Wrigley (??) (the one that was blown up in THE NATURAL?)

-Sasha

Is there in fact any history behind that huge clock at Wrigley that was blown up in The Natural? I don't know that Wrigley ever had such a clock and thought that scene was purely a Hollywood thing.

[1995hoo]

* * *
3 also, what is the distance from home to second, and from first to third. (im assuming its the same distance.)

* * *
It should be the same. The sum of the squares of the two sides of the triangle equals the square of the hypotenuse. Do the math :laugh

[baseball_in_hel*]

Funny, but I've never seen a collision or even a near-collision with a flag pole. I've seen many outfielders bump their noggins on the brick wall behind the ivy at Wrigley, though.

So what do you think of the "hill" in centerfield at Minute Maid Park??? What's the logic for that????? :noidea


Isn't there also a hill in center field in the Kansas City Royals's stadium???

~~Tyler~~

[Bob Hannah]

3 also, what is the distance from home to second, and from first to third. (im assuming its the same distance.)
-Sasha
The answer to this question just popped up in this link here (http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/BODY_EP092) that appeared in a thread in this same forum (http://www.baseball-fever.com/showthread.php?p=329781#post329781).

Thanks, cong.

[klsm54]

Besides the flag pole being in play at Forbes field, so was the batting cage. After batting practice, they towed it out into the expanses to the left of the Flag pole, in the 457' part of the park.

There were also cages around three light poles that were in play. One in Left-center, one in center, and the other in right center.

I like the hill, and flag pole at Minute-Maid. Hat's off to Tal... :cool: ...It's the little things like that that add character to a park. The further we get from the "cookie-cutter" days, the better, as far as I'm concerned.

[JPL BMX]

Besides the flag pole being in play at Forbes field, so was the batting cage. After batting practice, they towed it out into the expanses to the left of the Flag pole, in the 457' part of the park.

There were also cages around three light poles that were in play. One in Left-center, one in center, and the other in right center.

I like the hill, and flag pole at Minute-Maid. Hat's off to Tal... :cool: ...It's the little things like that that add character to a park. The further we get from the "cookie-cutter" days, the better, as far as I'm concerned.



I agree, the little things like the hill and flag pole make the park more interesting and also makes the game more interesting also. I think all stadiums should have something unique about it. I agree with you fully.

[BristolBoy]

It should be the same. The sum of the squares of the two sides of the triangle equals the square of the hypotenuse. Do the math :laughOR root(2(90^2)) feet.

I get the feeling I'm becoming the resident maths-but-not-necessarily-stats-guy after my bashings about infinite ERAs. :rolleyes:

[Richmond Hill Phoenix]

I have heard that whoever it was that measured out the distance from the mound to the plate had messy writing. When writing 60" 0' , he instead wrote a zero the looked more like a six. This was copied over and over, and since then the distance has been where it now stands. I wonder, if a groundskeeper were to put the mound at 60" even, if a pitcher would notice the difference...

[KHenry14]

Don't forget ... Yankee Stadium also had the monuments in play ...

See what Mickey Mantle had to deal with:

http://www.ultimateyankees.com/Yankee_Stadium_5.jpg


I once saw Frank Howard of the Senators hit a ball to the monuments and only get a double out of it!! 460ft. double! LOL


KH14

[MLB crazy]

got a few Questions

1. what ball parks from any time had or have a hill in center field


2. will new yankee stadium keep the monuments? have an in play flagpole or move the monuments into play?

[Kentucky Bomber]

got a few Questions

1. what ball parks from any time had or have a hill in center field


2. will new yankee stadium keep the monuments? have an in play flagpole or move the monuments into play?

New YS will keep Monument Park as an off-field area, but move it to center field below the batter's eye restaurants.

[StanTheMan]

The Polo Grounds certainly had the most elements in play of all time... No fancy hills or even flagpoles, but how about.

Monument - Eddie Grant Memorial similar to those at Yankee Stadium
Two sets of stairs - leading up the center field clubhouses Windows on the clubhouse Doors at the top of the stairs.. the door is open with someone looking out of it in the photo below. Not a big deal really, no batted ball EVER struck the center field clubhouse. In fact there were not even any ground rules as to where a ball had to be hit to be a HR to center. Hit the wall above the windows? Above the overhang? No yellow line painted ANYWHERE... none needed at 483 feet to the base of the clubhouse wall!

33601


Overhang - a whopping 21 feet!!!!

33602


BULLPENS - The only fair terrirory bullpens in all of baseball

33600

[gemcaptom]

Don't forget ... Yankee Stadium also had the monuments in play ...

See what Mickey Mantle had to deal with:

http://www.ultimateyankees.com/Yankee_Stadium_5.jpg


Pardon my ignorance but WTF would any stadium put anything in the field of play, wether it be a flag pole or monuments or whatever?? Im baffled by this and they are still doing it today.. YS with its monuments and such on the field of play back in th eday was ridiculous, sorry Yankee fans, but what was that all about??? The Hill in Minute maid park and flagpole is just as absurd..

[Kentucky Bomber]

Pardon my ignorance but WTF would any stadium put anything in the field of play, wether it be a flag pole or monuments or whatever?? Im baffled by this and they are still doing it today.. YS with its monuments and such on the field of play back in th eday was ridiculous, sorry Yankee fans, but what was that all about??? The Hill in Minute maid park and flagpole is just as absurd..

The monuments in YS and PG were a staggering distance from home plate. In all the years I watched baseball in the original YS configuration I could count on the fingers of one hand, OK maybe both hands, the number of balls I saw bounce out to the monuments, and I'm reasonably sure the Eddie Grant monument had very few visitors as well. Placing the monuments on the field in the current YS, with 408 as the deepest part of the park would insure almost daily interference with play.

[StanTheMan]

Didn't Stengel have a great quote (or at least something he yelled from the dugout when the ball was bouncing around out by the monuments at YS or the Eddie Grant memorial at the PG?

Something along the lines of "Player X!! Player Y!! Player Z!! The Ghost of Ruth/Grant... somebody PLEASE throw the ball back to the infield!!!"

[ElHalo]

Aside from hills in the outfield, the Polo Grounds used to have a temendous dip in the outfield. Standard playing depth in Center Field was about four to five feet lower than the infield.

[gman5431]

StantheMan, thanks for the polo ground pics. I'm very familiar with these oddities at the old ballyard, but havent seen those exact pics before, very nice.

Touches like this, which become increasingly rare is one of the things that gives ballparks its own character. The cookie cutters of the 70s were hated because they were all the same and i think many of the retro parks will be viewed similarly years from now. The hill, flag poles in play, etc is what gives a park meaning. The one thing i would like ot see in parks of this age are deeper outfields. The best play in baseball is the triple and there are way to many parks in the Majors where triples are impossible. My favorite park about ballparks is odd outfield demensions and walls that arent a stones throw from the plates.

G Man

[MLB crazy]

what ballparks have /had /will a hill in center field????????????
becides minute maid park

[Astros]

what ballparks have /had /will a hill in center field????????????
becides minute maid park

Crosley Field had a terrace across the entire outfield. It was more noticable in left, but it ran across center and right as well. Tal Smith, President of Baseball Operations for the Astros, got his start with the Reds in the late 1950s and holds special memories of Crosley Field and that is one of the reasons he suggested one in Houston. The base of the hill is about 410 feet from home plate. It is 26 feet at its deepest point and rises about 5 feet up to the outfield wall.

[JohnCropp]

Pardon my ignorance but WTF would any stadium put anything in the field of play, wether it be a flag pole or monuments or whatever?? Im baffled by this and they are still doing it today.. YS with its monuments and such on the field of play back in th eday was ridiculous, sorry Yankee fans, but what was that all about??? The Hill in Minute maid park and flagpole is just as absurd..

Baseball wasn't all about the long ball in the early days. Back then, all of these obstructions didn't actually obstruct anything, they just existed beyond the ball field.

Now, anyone can hit a homerun out of any part of any park and so anything within the fence is hittable and things like hills and flagpoles are just gimmicks.

... but I still love 'em!

[Smirkman]

The same logic that has kept 60'6" the distance to home plate when it's always been known that the 6" was a 150 year-old typo. :rolleyes:

That is a myth. The back of the mound is in the center of the infield and the pitching rubber is in the center of the mound therefore making the distance to the front of the rubber 60'6". Nice story though.

[MLB crazy]

old yankee stadium had some wierd warning track .
it would curve then go up to the fence then curve and up to the fence...



there was a flag pole right there

[Yankeefan3783]

Didn't AT&T Park (Pac Bell Park at the time) have a flag pole in play when it first opened? I could have sworn they did, but I can't seem to find anything about it online.

[jnakamura]

Didn't AT&T Park (Pac Bell Park at the time) have a flag pole in play when it first opened? I could have sworn they did, but I can't seem to find anything about it online.

No, it never did. Maybe you're thinking about Comerica?

[metfan13]

That is a myth. The back of the mound is in the center of the infield and the pitching rubber is in the center of the mound therefore making the distance to the front of the rubber 60'6". Nice story though.

Nope. The rubber's not in the center of the mound. The mounds got an 18 ft diameter. 10ft from front of rubber to edge, 8ft from back of rubber to back edge.

[Seattle1]

I don't think a flagpole in the field of play is a very good idea. I don't like to see that kind of thing.

[Smirkman]

Nope. The rubber's not in the center of the mound. The mounds got an 18 ft diameter. 10ft from front of rubber to edge, 8ft from back of rubber to back edge.

You are correct sir and if I did my math at the time I would have realized that the centerpoint of the diamond is 63' 7.6875". Oops.

I suppose more (i.e. better) research is needed.

Edit:

According to Glory Fades Away, by Jerry Lansch (and Wikipedia) the following explains the pitching rubber to home plate distance:

A pitcher threw from within a box where the front edge was 45 feet from the back of home plate (as all distances from HP).

To "increase the batting", the front edge of the pitcher's box was moved back 5 feet in 1881, to 50 feet from home plate.

In 1887, the box was set at 4 feet wide and 5 1/2 feet deep, with the front edge still 50 feet from the plate. However, the pitcher was compelled to deliver the ball with his back foot at the 55 1/2 foot line of the box.

In 1893, the box was replaced by the pitcher's plate. Exactly 5 feet was added to the point the pitcher had to toe, again "to increase the batting".