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A baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the playing field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term can also be used as a metonym for a baseball park. The term sandlot is sometimes used, although this usually refers to less organized venues for activities like sandlot ball.
All the bases, including home plate, lie entirely within fair territory. Thus, any batted ball that touches those bases must necessarily be ruled a fair ball. While the first and third base bags are placed so that they lie inside the 90-foot square formed by the bases, the second base bag is placed so that its center (unlike first, third and home) coincides exactly with the "point" of the ninety-foot square. Thus, although the "points" of the bases are 90 feet apart, the physical distance between each successive pair of base markers is closer to .
Near the center of the square is an artificial hill known as the pitcher's mound, atop which is a white rubber slab known as the pitcher's plate, colloquially the "rubber". The specifications for the pitcher's mound are described below.
The lines from home plate to first and third bases extend to the nearest fence, stand or other obstruction and are called the foul lines. The portion of the playing field between (and including) the foul lines is fair territory; the rest is "foul territory". The area within the square formed by the bases is officially called the infield, though colloquially this term also includes fair territory in the vicinity of the square; fair territory outside the infield is known as the outfield. Most baseball fields are enclosed with a fence that marks the outer edge of the outfield. The fence is usually set at a distance ranging from from home plate. Most professional and college baseball fields have a right and left foul pole which are about apart.http://web.mit.edu/~xsdg/Public/papers/himcm-2003.pdf "The width is the distance between foul poles... the Twins’ field width (473.9 ft) and the Braves’ field width (470.2 ft) is not significant. However, the difference between the Rockies’ and Yankees’ field widths (492.9 ft and 446.9 ft, respectively) is very significant." These poles are at the intersection of the foul lines and the respective ends of the outfield fence and, unless otherwise specified within the ground rules, lie in fair territory. Thus, a batted ball that passes over the outfield wall in flight and touches the foul pole is a fair ball and the batter is awarded a home run.
Retrieved 19 Feb 2021.Little League Baseball Field
https://www.dimensions.com/element/little-league-baseball-field. Retrieved 19 Feb 2021.
The first baseman is the defensive player mainly responsible for the area near first base. In some youth leagues and adult recreational leagues, a "double first base" or "safety first base" is used. A double first base is rectangular (rather than square), measuring 30 by 15 inches. It is normally colored white and orange (two 15 by 15 inches squares). It is placed with the white half in fair territory and the orange half in foul territory. The white half is used by the first baseman to make plays while the orange half is used by the runner. This creates a separation between the first baseman and runner, reducing the chance of injury on plays at first base.
In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the first baseman is assigned the number 3.
A runner on second base is said to be in "scoring position", since there is a higher likelihood of scoring a run from second base on a single. Since second base is the farthest from home plate, it is the most commonly stolen base in baseball.
In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the second baseman is assigned the number 4, and the shortstop 6.
Like a runner on second base, a runner on third base is said to be in "scoring position", since there is a higher likelihood of scoring a run on a single or sacrifice fly provided that the third and final out is not recorded before they can reach home plate.
In recreational fields, there is usually a tall chain-link fence that surrounds the infield and the players' bench for player safety.
The chalk lines delineating the two foul lines are rarely extended through the batter's boxes. However, those lines exist conceptually for the purpose of judging a batted ball fair or foul. In addition, inside edges of the batter's boxes are often not laid-in with chalk. Similarly, though not marked, those lines continue to exist for the purpose of the rules pertaining to the batter's box and the batter's position relative thereto.
There are two batter's boxes, one on each side of home plate. The batter's boxes are wide and long. The batter's boxes are centered lengthwise at the center of home plate with the inside line of each batter's box from the near edge of home plate. A handedness batter would stand in the batter's box on the right side of home plate from the perspective of the pitcher. A left-handed batter would stand in the batter's box to their left. A batter may only occupy one batter's box at a time and may not legally leave the batter's box after the pitcher has come set or has started their windup. Should the batter wish to leave the batter's box once the pitcher has engaged the rubber, they must first ask the umpire for time-out. Time will not be granted if the pitcher has already started their pitching motion. For playing rules relating to the batter's box, see Rules 6.05 and 6.06 of the Official Baseball Rules.
In Major League Baseball, a regulation mound is in diameter, with the center from the rear point of home plate, on the line between home plate and second base. The front edge of the pitcher's plate or rubber is behind the center of the mound, making the front edge's midpoint 60 feet 6 inches from the rear point of home plate. in front of the pitcher's rubber the mound begins to slope downward. The top of the rubber is to be no higher than above home plate. From 1903 through 1968, this height limit was set at , but in reality differed from ballpark to ballpark as the height was considered too difficult to enforce.
A higher mound generally favors the pitcher and teams which emphasized pitching, such as the Los Angeles Dodgers, would have a slightly higher mound. With the height advantage, the pitcher gains more leverage and can put more downward velocity on the ball, making it more difficult for the batter to strike the ball squarely with the baseball bat. After 1968, known among baseball historians as "the year of the pitcher", the official height of the mound was lowered from in an attempt to "increase the batting" once again.
A pitcher's mound is difficult for to maintain. Usually before every game it is watered down to keep the dust from spreading. On youth and amateur baseball fields, the mound may be much different from the rule book definition due to erosion and repair attempts. Even in the major leagues, each mound gains its own character, as pitchers are allowed to kick away pieces of dirt in their way, thereby sculpting the mound a bit to their preference.
The pitcher may keep a rosin bag on the rear of the mound to dry off their hands. Major League Baseball teams are also permitted cleat cleaners on the back of the mound. This may be a flat grate-style plate, or simply a hand tool such as a piece of wood used to remove mud and dirt from cleats. These items are allowed to remain on the backside of the mound at the discretion of the umpire, thus reducing the probability that they will affect a live play.
In artificial turf stadiums, infield dirt was originally only placed in three five-sided areas around the bases and in two circles around the pitcher's and batting areas, which are referred to as "cut outs". In this configuration, the "grass line" is usually designated with a white arc. This setup first appeared at Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium upon its opening in 1970. Among Major League Baseball fields, Rogers Centre was the last stadium to maintain this type of configuration and was reconfigured with a full dirt infield starting in the 2016 MLB season.
In some college baseball parks with artificial turf fields, the entire field (along with possibly the pitcher's mound) is made up of turf, with parts of the field mainly containing dirt instead merely being clay-colored turf.
A warning track's width is not specified in the rules. It is generally designed to give about three steps of warning to the highest-level players using the field. Typical widths run from about six feet for Little League fields to about for college- or professional-level play. A warning track this wide also lets groundskeepers avoid driving maintenance vehicles on the grass.
The track can be composed of finely ground rock particles such as cinders, which is why announcer Bob Wolff called it the "cinder path" rather than the "warning track".
The idea of a warning track originated in Yankee Stadium, where an actual running track was built for use in track and field events. When ballpark designers saw how the track helped fielders, it soon became a feature of every ballpark.
Single-minded fielders often crash into a wall trying to make a catch despite the warning track. For this reason, outfield walls are typically padded for extra safety. Wrigley Field's brick wall is covered only by ivy, which is not especially soft. However, there are pads on the walls of the tight left and right field corners in foul ground.
Warning-track power is a derogatory term for a batter who seems to have just enough power to hit the ball to the warning track for an out, but not enough to hit a home run. The term more generally refers to someone or something that is almost but not quite good enough for something.
Before 1931 (with the exception of a couple months in 1920) the foul lines extended indefinitely; a batter was awarded a home run only if a fly ball out of the field was fair where it landed. Now, a batted ball that leaves the field in flight is judged fair or foul at the point it leaves the field. Thus, such a fly ball passing on the fair side of a foul pole, or hitting a foul pole, is a home run regardless of where the ball goes thereafter.
Foul poles are typically much higher than the top of the outfield fence or wall, and often have a narrow screen running along the fair side of the pole. This further aids the umpires' judgment, as a ball that bounces off this screen is a home run. It can still be a difficult call, especially in ballparks with no outfield stands behind the poles to provide perspective. Wrigley Field is notorious for arguments over long, curving flies down a foul line (most notably in left field) that sail higher than the foul pole.
At Major League Baseball fields, foul poles are usually yellow. Those at Citi Field are orange. At Petco Park, there is no foul pole in left field; the pole's function is served by a yellow metal strip along the corner of the Western Metal Supply Co. building. Several parks featuring advertising along the length of the foul pole, with the most prominent example being the advertising from Chick-fil-A at both Citi Field and Daikin Park (serving as a pun, with "fowl" being another term for a chicken, the primary meat featured by that restaurant chain).
The original Knickerbocker Rules did not specify the pitching distance explicitly; the 1854 Unified Rules stated "from Home to pitcher not less than fifteen paces". By the time major league baseball began in the 1870s, the pitcher was compelled to pitch from within a "box" whose front edge was from the "point" of home plate. Although they had to release the ball before crossing the line, as with bowlers in cricket, they also had to start their delivery from within the box, meaning that they could only run for a short distance before throwing; they could not run in from the field as bowlers do. Furthermore, the pitcher had to throw underhand. By the 1880s, pitchers had mastered the underhand delivery—in fact, in 1880, there were two perfect games within a week of each other.
In 1893, the box was replaced by the pitcher's plate, although "the box" is still used today as a slang term for the pitcher's location on the field. Exactly 5 feet was added to the point the pitcher had to toe, again "to increase the batting" (and hopefully to increase attendance, as fan interest had flagged somewhat), resulting in the seemingly peculiar pitching distance of .
Some sources suggest that the pitching distance evolved from 45 to 50 to 60.5 feet. However, the first two were the "release point" and the third is the "pushoff point." The 1893 rule change added only 5 feet to the release point, not 10.5 feet.
Originally the pitcher threw from flat ground. Gradually, the raised mound was developed, somewhat returning the advantage to the pitchers. From 1893 to 1950, a stipulation was added that the mound be no more than 15 inches above the field. Before the mid-20th century, it was common for baseball fields to include a dirt pathway between the pitcher's mound and home plate. This feature is sometimes known as the "keyhole" due to the shape that it makes together with the mound. The keyhole was once as wide as the pitcher's box and resembled a cricket pitch. Sometimes this path extended through the batting area and all the way to the backstop. Once the rounded pitcher's mound was developed, the path became more ornamental than practical, and was gradually thinned before being largely abandoned by the 1950s. In recent years some ballparks, such as Comerica Park and Chase Field in the major leagues, have revived the feature for nostalgic reasons.
From 1857 to 1867 home plate was a circular iron plate, painted or enameled white, covering "a space equal to one square foot of surface", i.e. with a diameter of ~13-1/2 inches. In 1868 the plate was changed to a square, 12" on a side, originally set with the flat sides toward the pitcher and catcher; the new professional NAPBBP rotated it 45 degrees in 1871. In 1872 the rules required it to be made of white marble or stone set flush with the ground. For the rest of the century materials varied between stone, iron and wood, but at all times it was a white twelve-inch square.James, B. New Historical Baseball Abstract. The pentagonal shape and the mandatory use of rubber were developed by Bob Keating, who had pitched one game for the 1887 Baltimore Orioles; the new plate was adopted by the National League in 1900. From 1861 to 1874 the center, not the back, of the plate was situated on the intersection of the foul lines, and in 1875–76 was moved entirely into foul ground with the "pitcher's point" at the intersection. In 1877 it was moved forward to its modern location, wholly in fair territory.
There were no batters' boxes before 1874. Up until that time, the batter was required to hit with their front foot on a line passing through the center of the plate.Actually, in 1857 the batter was allowed to stand anywhere behind the line, and was free to start well back and take a running swing The 1874 batters' boxes were 6 feet by 3 feet, 12 inches from the plate; the modern dimensions (6' x 4') were instituted in 1885 by the National League and the following year by the American Association
Maintenance
Honors and awards
The Sports Turf Managers Association (STMA) presents various awards each year. Starting in 2001, its Sports Turf Manager of the Year Awards have been presented annually in the Triple-A, Double-A, Class A, and Short-Season/Rookie divisions of Minor League Baseball and are chosen from the 16 league winners. STMA also presents the Baseball Field of the Year Award, which includes Schools and Parks, College/University and Professional categories.
See also
External links
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