The diamond shape of the baseball field has changed very little over the past 150 years. Its four-sided shape consisting of sharp angles at the two sides resemble two back to back triangles, was established in 1845 by the Knickerbocker Baseball Club. Since then there have been only minute changes in distances between bases and from the pitcher’s mound to home plate.
So why is it 90 feet to first base? Through trial and error it had been determined that 100 feet would be too advantageous to the defense. At a distance of 80 feet on the other hand, the advantage went to the offense. At longer than 90 feet, it was too easy to field an infield hit and throw the runner out at first base. Shorter than 90 feet, fielders could not throw base runners out even when hits were well fielded.
Once the 90 feet distance became the rule, the best balance between offensive and defensive play was established and the 90 feet rule has remained the standard throughout the history of the game.
90 feet is also the distance from first to second base, second to third base, and third base to home plate, so the distance between each of the four bases is identical. Between each base, the straight line or shortest distance from one base to the next is known as the baseline. Base runners are not required by the rules to run in a straight line, from one base to the next. In fact a runner will round out his path when running from first to third base, or from second base to home plate. On the other hand, runners try to avoid being tagged in double play situations by running in the straightest line from one base to the next, often sliding into the the base.
Between home plate and first base, however, there is an established rule on where the batter-runner is allowed to run. Halfway up between home plate and first base, a second chalk line is drawn to the right of the foul ball line.
The area between this second chalk line and the foul line is the area where a batter-runner must run between home plate and first base, and nowhere outside of it. This area, known as the “three foot lane”, was created for the runner to run inside of on his way to first base, so he would not interfere with players fielding the ball.
The only time the runner is allowed to go outside the three foot lane is to avoid interfering with the defense fielding the ball. These rules are stated in the Official Baseball Rules, Rule 6.05 of the Major League Baseball Rule Book.
Are Outfield Walls the Same in Every Baseball Park?
The outfield wall or fence marks the outer boundary of the outfield. Any ball hit over the wall by a batter is considered a home run. The official rules do not specify how far the outfield wall must be from home plate. Major League Baseball mandates the outfield wall be at least 250 feet from home plate, and recommends a minimum distance of 320 feet at the foul poles and 400 feet at center field. On the outfield walls, numbers painted or affixed some other way to indicate the distance from the wall to home plate.
As a result there are great differences in outfield wall distances from one park to the next. Many batters prefer playing in shallow fields because it is easier to hit home runs if the ball needs to travel a shorter distance to go over the fence, although a hitter doesn’t always get more hits in a smaller ballpark.
It is curious that there are specific measurements for most aspects of the baseball diamond but there isn’t a specific distance required from home plate to the outfield wall. Section 2.01 of the Official Baseball Rule book indicates the following:
- The infield must be 90 feet square (90 feet distance from base to base)
- The infield shall be graded so that the infield and base lines are level
- The pitcher’s plate (i.e., “rubber”) shall be 10 inches above the level of home plate
- Home plate must be 17 inches square of whitened rubber and have the specific dimensions described in the rule book.
- Each base shall be 15 inches square
There are many more specific requirements not listed here, but none regarding the height of the outfield wall, nor its distance from home plate. As a result, the overall size of the diamond where the players hit and field is different in each stadium, and records for hitting and pitching are often associated with the park where the game is played. So each left field (LF), center field (CF) and right field wall (RF) is either shorter or longer from the batter’s box than every other park.
- Yankee Stadium
Left Field: 318 Ft. | Center Field: 408 Ft. | Right Field: 314 Ft.
- Dodger Stadium
Left Field: 330 Ft. | Center Field: 395 Ft. | Right Field: 330 Ft.
- Fenway Park (Boston Red Sox)
Left Field: 310 Ft. | Center Field: 389 Ft. | Right Field: 314 Ft.
- Comerica Park (Detroit Tigers)
Left Field : 345 Ft. | Center Field: 420 Ft. | Right Field: 330 Ft.
The first two ballparks listed, Yankee Stadium and Dodger Stadium, have outfield dimensions that are close in size to many other ballparks. Comerica Park, however, has a very deep center field, while Fenway Park, at only 389 feet from home plate, is the shallowest.
Do Batters and Pitchers Prefer Playing in One Ballpark Over Another?
These differences designate stadiums as being either parks favorable to hitters, or favorable to pitchers.
Although parks are built with the intent of creating a neutral playing environment that doesn’t give an advantage to offense or defense, there are certain ballparks hitters prefer to play in over others, and parks pitchers have better outcomes playing in.
Batters often prefer shallow ballparks to play in like Fenway Park, However, a disadvantage is that the outfield is much smaller at Fenway so the fielder has less space to cover to retrieve a ball.
On the other hand, deeper fences result in less home runs a batter can hit, such as in Comerica Park. On the other hand, the fences are so deep it makes outfield much larger, so there are more doubles and triples hit on a larger field.
A pitcher considers the size of the ballpark only second to how well the batter can follow the ball being pitched. A smaller ballpark will be preferred by a pitcher, even though it is easier to throw home run pitchers, if hitters have trouble picking up the ball.
Factors other than ballpark dimensions impact how well batters and pitchers perform. Some ballparks such as the former Tiger Stadium (converted into Comerica Park in 2003), had an open right field area without seats, allowing wind to blow in from outside the stadium.
The wind knocked down fly balls, thus shortening their distance and speed. When additional stands were added, the wind died down and home runs, especially for left handed batters, increased dramatically.
Weather makes a powerful impact on how a ball travels, and the speed it can reach. In warmer weather, balls travel much further than they do in colder weather. It would be interesting to compare statistics for AT&T Park in San Francisco where the Giants play, with Marlins Park in Miami, where in the summer temperatures are consistently in the mid to upper 90s.
How Long Does it Take to Run From Home Plate to First Base?
On average, it takes a runner between four seconds is he is a right handed batter, and 3.9 seconds for a left handed batter. How fast a batter can run to first base depends on how fast he runs and whether he bats right-or left-handed. An important factor is how quickly the batter reacts after making a hit, how fast he switches from a stationary batting position to a sprint.
A left handed batter has an advantage because his body is already on the same side as first base, so he doesn’t cross home plate. He just drops the bat and runs.
A right-handed batter must either throw the bat behind him or in front outside the of path he is running. While these amount to fractions of a second of time difference (about a tenth of s=a second), it can be critical in close plays.
Imagine a right handed batter hits the ball between shortstop and third base. The shortstop retrieves the ball to his right by running to the end of the infield dirt with one foot on the outfield grass.
He throws the ball accurately, but it takes longer to reach the first baseman because of distance. A right handed batter may not make it to first before the ball and be called out because of the split second of extra time he needed to cross home plate. A left handed batter may score a base hit in the same play, because he was that much closer to first base.
