Report: Orioles to change left-field dimensions at Camden Yards

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• I'm sad that it'll mean the end for the Orange seat in section 86 and the seats that were my season tickets but happy that it should give some relief to the team ERA.

• Wow. I’m impressed and see this as a positive step. What does this portend?
  Is this the first of more future improvements to come for our 30 year old ballpark? Merely a token move to placate a few easily led fans, or an indication of some systemic change?
  Haters gonna hate, but this is surely not an arbitrary decision.

• Rich, the changes to left field sound like a fairly expensive project. Do we know whether that cost is being covered by the Orioles, or whether the Stadium Authority is paying part, or all, of the bill?

• "Don't you understand, it's not my problem?" B Dylan!

• Who cares, about whose paying to move, left field, back 30 feet or raise the height of the wall. Let’s be great full, that it is being done. Maybe now, We can get some really GOOD PITCHERS,Who REALLY, Want to come to Baltimore. Rich, What is the average distance, to Left Field, Center Field and to Right Field.

  • Orioles don’t have an exact measurement for left and left-center yet. They were 333 to left and 364 to left-center. Center is 400, right-center is 373 and right is 318.

• And I though his Cat was joking ......

  Hallelujah! We've been asking for this for years. A real major league baseball field!

  Does anybody know if this move was Mike Elias driven?

  • Yes

    • Awesome news - Rich!!! The construction for the changes has already begun and should know soon on if power alley will go from 364' to 394' plus the fence to be 12' high now!!! I stated before this would not be a really hard move to make also!!

      • Once again on my thread. Wanna-be all the way.

  • Wrong table…lol…go O’s…

• I have mixed emotions. For today’s hitters 364 to left center was a joke so I’m glad they moved the fences back, however, I still wished they’d kept the 7ft height as I’ve always thought one of the most exciting plays in all of sports was a catch robbing someone of a HR.
  I’m assuming also that since there’s nothing nowadays that can’t be looked up that ME and Sig thoroughly studied where every HR hit by the O’s and their opponents to LF landed and determined that these new dimensions will benefit the O’s. Rich, do you know what that will drop the seating capacity to?

  • What OPACY will hold now or how many fans will be there?…lol…go O’s…

  • Dave, Orioles haven’t announced seating capacity for 2022.

  • DL I could be wrong but I assume that they have to raise the fence 5 feet when they take the seats out due to the way the stadium is built and stands are angled. Otherwise you’d have the fans sitting at 12’ above the field and the wall 5’ below them with an awkward gap in between. Rich, will the higher fence lead to more obstructed view seats?

  • Dave, I don’t know. They haven’t announced specific plans.

• Finally, the Orioles are changing the dimensions at Camden Yards. Right now, it's the most hitter-friendly field in the American League.
  With the higher left field fence and deeper power alleys, maybe a decent "fly-ball" veteran pitcher might consider a trade to the O’s.

• Finally! I’ve been wanting to see this for years now. Too many lazy fly balls turn into homers out there. Hopefully we see some additional action on the field in the form of more doubles/triples too.

  I’m sure the pitching staff welcomes the change too. I’d love to have a peak at the data they collected and analyzed to make the decision.

• Rich, What I meant was, Do you know the average distance to Left, center and right field, in all of the other stadiums. I just wanted to compare them , to ours. Thanks

  • The distance to left-center was one of the lowest in the majors, and about average to left and center. The distance to right is one of the lower ones.

  • PC,
    Look up SI.com and search for an article entitled “MLB Outfield Walls, Ranked”
    It’s by Dan Gartland.
    Sorry; couldn’t figure out how to paste the web link.
    It’s one source for the type of info you’re looking for.

    • Icty ... when pasting a link on the web, paste it as plain text. Depending on the browser you're using, it's usually accomplished by right clicking and using one of what could be several paste options. Now if you using a phone ... good luck.

      https://www.si.com/mlb/2021/03/24/mlb-outfield-walls-ranked-fenway-park-yankee-stadium

  • Thanks Boog.
    Yeah, I’m at work - using my phone in the field, so was fumbling around. I’m less than technologically astute.
    Thanks for posting the link. Good info.

  • I’m certain I’m the most techno inept person around. I ask my wife to help me and invariably she ends up saying “use the OTHER right click.”

• This puts more of a premium on OF range. So no more DJ or Mountcastle in LF. Maybe we can even dream of developing well-rounded line drive hitters who spray the ball to the gaps and don’t strike out 150 times a year!

  • Agree. I am looking forward to seeing Hays fielding balls off the new wall- imagine him throwing guys out at second, third or home.

• ME keeps the masses distracted and amused by changing the shape of the ball park rather than the quality of the lineup. Now-you-see-it, now-you-don't. The beat goes on. i remember a ballpark in Brooklyn that was derided as a "bandbox," yet good players found a way to win there. But that was before the WAR.

• It makes total sense. The Orioles can't fill "The Yard" anymore, it may speed up games, and it will create closer games which may be more exciting and/or riveting. I would not be surprised if in the near future the seating drops to about 42,000.