Tomatoes in the Bullpen
Surprising trivia about America's beloved baseball fields
- By Amanda Bensen
- Smithsonian.com, April 01, 2008, Subscribe
A century and a half after the earliest professional baseball clubs formed in America, 30 ballparks across the nation are now springing to life for another season. Several were built or renovated in the last decade, and construction is under way to replace others. A few remain endearingly old-fashioned—but all have come a long way since the days when fans could be impressed by eight restrooms for each gender, as they were when Yankee Stadium first opened in 1923.
This utterly unofficial all-star roster of American ballparks was culled from team Web sites, newspaper archives, and several books, in particular The Ultimate Baseball Road-Trip, by Josh Pahigian and Kevin O'Connell.
Oldest
Fenway Park, Boston, MA: Home of the Red Sox
The oldest of the current major-league parks, Fenway is also perhaps the quirkiest, bending in odd places to fit within the boundaries of a normal city block and holding on to traditions like a manual scoreboard and a ladder hanging from the outfield wall. Its green left-field wall, dubbed "The Green Monster," is the highest in the major leagues at 37 feet.
Fenway has endured for 95 years, but certainly is not the luckiest of parks. Its opening day on April 20, 1912 was overshadowed in the headlines by the sinking of the Titanic a few days earlier. A fire destroyed part of the bleachers in May 1926, a bigger fire delayed renovation efforts in 1934, and a third fire damaged the press area in 1962.
On June 9, 1946, Ted Williams hit the longest measured homer in the park's history—502 feet, and it might have gone even further if not for smacking into the straw hat (and skull) of a fan named Joseph Boucher in the right field bleachers. Boucher wasn't so unlucky--he probably had a headache, but he got season tickets as compensation. His seat from that day is now painted red.
Newest
Nationals Stadium, Washington, DC: Home of the Nationals
When it opens March 30, this will become the newest and most expensive stadium in the major leagues, if only for a year (both the Yankees and Mets plan to open new venues in 2009). It will also become the first certified "green" ballpark, with special measures being taken to reduce energy use and protect the nearby Anacostia River watershed.
Highest
Coors Field, Denver, CO: Home of the Rockies
The highest altitude ballpark in the nation, Coors Field tops out at 5,259 feet, with a purple-painted row in the upper seating deck signifying exactly one mile above sea level. Balls travel 5 to 10 percent farther at this altitude than in sea-level venues. In its first five years, the park twice claimed the sport's highest total of home runs batted in by both sides during a season (271 in 1996, and 303 in 1999). Even the introduction of extra-humidified (thus heavier) baseballs a few years ago hasn't changed Coors Field's reputation as homer heaven.
The open-air park also has the first underground heating system in the major leagues, with 45 miles of wiring beneath the grass surface that can warm up to a snow-melting 60 degrees, something that's often necessary during a Rocky Mountain spring.
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Comments (5)
Great read.
Posted by alexgadd on May 7,2011 | 10:26 AM
where did the word bullpen come from
Posted by dan risner on May 8,2009 | 09:39 PM
About fenway park and the longest homerun ever...The seat isn't painted red. Back then all the seats where red. They have since changed all the seats to green except that one.
Posted by simon on August 17,2008 | 03:16 PM
Yankee Stadium - don't forget Pink Floyd 1994, somewhen among Dead shows and that year's Woodstock, 94, what a year, woo HOO!
Posted by georgeof420 on April 22,2008 | 01:24 PM
Good article!
Posted by Jeffro on April 17,2008 | 02:36 PM