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Baseball Stadiums

N

n8236

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Mar 1, 2006
1,065
32
I've been a baseball fan for years, but what's w/ the SUPER high walls in so many of the stadiums i see?! If I remember correctly, Cleveland or Atlantas' at one side is HIGH. So high it seems impossible to hit past.

It'll prevent HRs from visiting teams, but it also prohibits your own. Perhaps design is part of the issue, but what is the bigger purpose? I'm stomped by it.
 
Sry, I meant the walls next to the running tracks as where the bleachers are behind. U could be right, but most are enclosed stadiums that i've seen.
 
All stadiums are built differently...I mean...look at Boston's green monster.

Most of the newer stadiums, however, are built where people can be closer to the field.

Not sure where you are from, but try going to a Phillies game. That stadium is beautiful, and the large video screen they have looks like a huge 50 foot high def screen.
 
Well, it's not really a new thing. This one's been around since the 1930's :D .

Green%20Monster%20450x300.JPG
 
Ya, like that! Look at that high @ss wall, lol. Do they really expect the players to hit past that? hehehe. I guess that's one way of holding off HR records.

I'm from SF, the right field wall isn't particularly low, but it's definitely not nearly as bad as those I've seen hehehe.
 
n8236 said:
Ya, like that! Look at that high @ss wall, lol. Do they really expect the players to hit past that? hehehe. I guess that's one way of holding off HR records.

I'm from SF, the right field wall isn't particularly low, but it's definitely not nearly as bad as those I've seen hehehe.
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It adds to the character of the different parks. I like it.

The green monster in Boston is the classic example, and it's part of what makes that one of the best ballparks in the country (and I'm a yankees fan)! A great place to see a game - Do go there if you ever have the opportunity.
 
In the old days baseball parks were built to fit whatever land was available, so they often took on eccentric dimensions. If an outfield had to be short, they raised the wall to compensate. Fenway has the shallowest left field in major league baseball, but also the highest wall. During the mulit-purpose stadium era (starting around 1960), most of the outfield fences were made more or less the same height and the distances symmetrical. With many of these stadiums now falling by the wayside, the new ballparks are being designed to emulate the irregularities of the classic baseball era.
 
IJ Reilly said:
With many of these stadiums now falling by the wayside, the new ballparks are being designed to emulate the irregularities of the classic baseball era.
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With the rationale for the eccentricities faked?
 
mactastic said:
With the rationale for the eccentricities faked?
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Well, sort of. Most of the newer ballparks are being built in urban as opposed to suburban locations, which does limit their dimensions somewhat. In San Diego they actually moved an historic brick building to form a portion the left field wall. Ballparks got to be pretty sterile settings for the games during the stadium era. Fans didn't care for the stadiums because they sat too far from the action and all the venues looked pretty much alike. The neoclassic ballparks are a reaction to that.
 
I'm having my own issues with "faked" rationales for things right now, which is why it's on my mind. I'm involved with a new high school project where the district wants a campus with the look of an Italian villa that grew in place over time. Problem is, they don't want it to actually grow in over time, they want it to look old and organic from day one.

Oh, and the estimate came it at approximately $50 million over what they were hoping to spend, but that's a whole 'nother story...
 
mactastic said:
I'm having my own issues with "faked" rationales for things right now, which is why it's on my mind. I'm involved with a new high school project where the district wants a campus with the look of an Italian villa that grew in place over time. Problem is, they don't want it to actually grow in over time, they want it to look old and organic from day one.

Oh, and the estimate came it at approximately $50 million over what they were hoping to spend, but that's a whole 'nother story...
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The rationales for the designs of the new ballparks are not exactly faked. The stadiums from the '60s and '70s lacked intimacy and individuality. They also lacked context. A lot of them looked like they could have been dropped randomly on the landscape from spaceships. Nasty ugly places. Besides, there's a fine old tradition to architectural fakery. It's called period revivalism! The only problem I've got with period revival is when it's done poorly -- which, sadly, it mostly is these days. Somewhere along the line architects lost their flair for historicism, and it's never quite come back.
 
IJ Reilly said:
The rationales for the designs of the new ballparks are not exactly faked. The stadiums from the '60s and '70s lacked intimacy and individuality. They also lacked context. A lot of them looked like they could have been dropped randomly on the landscape from spaceships. Nasty ugly places. Besides, there's a fine old tradition to architectural fakery. It's called period revivalism! The only problem I've got with period revival is when it's done poorly -- which, sadly, it mostly is these days. Somewhere along the line architects lost their flair for historicism, and it's never quite come back.
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Good ol' Astrodome, Georgia Dome, Superdome, Metrodome, Three Rivers...
 
Although it reeks of Urine and strange folks, I've always got Wrigley to go to for a good old fashioned ballpark!

And I do miss old Comiskey! :mad:
 
Present new Busch Stadium III is part of a three phase development. The stadium seats 5701 less than the former Busch Memorial but is part of a Ballpark Village which will include a Hall of Fame Museum and a combination of housing, hotels, shops, restaurants and offices. Cost for construction of new stadium: $346M
 
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