Construction has begun on the left field area at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Nathan Ruiz of The Baltimore Sun reports, as the Orioles are looking to make their ballpark’s dimensions slightly more favorable towards pitchers. The stretch of the left field wall from the foul pole to the bullpen area in left-center field will be moved back roughly 30 feet, and also elevated to around 12 feet high from its current height of seven feet.
The renovations are expected to be completed by Opening Day. This is the first notable change to OPACY’s dimensions in 20 seasons, though even those changes (increasing the distance between home plate and the outfield wall) were rolled back a year later.
As Ruiz notes, Camden Yards has allowed the most home runs (5911) of any ballpark in the majors since OPACY first opened in 1992. While obviously many new stadiums have since opened and don’t have the 30 years of compiled history, any number of metrics or just plain naked-eye measurements leave no doubt that Camden Yards is one of baseball’s more hitter-friendly venues.
The oft-struggling state of the Orioles’ pitching staff has naturally played a role in those numbers, though it can certainly be argued that Baltimore pitchers might have had better numbers if right-handed batters had more of a challenge in reaching the seats on fly balls to left field. “While Camden Yards will remain a hitters’ park, the hope is for the changes to prevent it from being an outlier in terms of home runs,” Ruiz writes.
Orioles pitchers have allowed the most homers in baseball in each of the last three 162-game seasons. That includes a 2019 campaign that saw Baltimore pitchers set a new MLB record with 305 home runs allowed in a single season. The use of the livelier ball led to a huge surge in home runs league-wide in 2019, yet while the five highest single-season homers-allowed totals in history occurred during that season, the Orioles’ 305 total still comfortably led the pack (the Rockies were second, surrendering 270 home runs).
“and also elevated to around 12 feet high from its current height of 12 feet.”
Huh?
That’s zero feet for the mathematically challenged.
It’s a typo. The fences are currently 7 feet high and will be raised to 12.
The article is full of quasi fake-news. It will be moved back 30ft in the alleys, not down the line as this piece infers. Anyone with common sense knows the new dimensions arent going to be 363 down the left field line with a 12ft fence. At that depth it would be deeper than Coors.
And the typos prevented me from making a snarky comment about where will all the fans now sit after removing….. just forget it.
I hope they won’t need a step ladder for the construction
I don’t get that either. Maybe they mean it’s going to be slightly higher than 12 feet so “around 12 feet” but still less than 13 feet. Or maybe it was just a typo. If it was a typo I hope they fix it so we can know the real dimensions. If it wasn’t a typo I hope they explain it so it doesn’t sound so weird. I wish I owned a construction company that got paid to raise things from a height of 12 feet to a height of “around 12 feet.” What an easy way to make money. No guarantee I do anything at all.
It was a typo .already been fixed
It’s Sublime Math. Similar to when they say, “I smoke two joints before I smoke two joints, and then I smoke two more.”
That comment is just lit..
I always interpreted the Sublime song to mean he always smokes at least 6 joints.
12′? Bush league move.
The Orioles pitching staff coupled with the power teams of the AL East has a lot to do with those numbers being high.
Exactly. If you can’t beat them, just change the rules.
No.. Just buld a team to suit the place where you play half of your home games. Look no further than where both boston and NYY have had their best teams, offensive juggernaughts. NYY from the left side where easy popups become HR’s to right and long flyballs to LF die on the warning track and at fenway? just the opposite, or doubles off the wall to left.
baltimore just failed to build an offensive team the last cpl decades and is looking for any change now unfortunately and i do not dislike the team at all, just the current ownership which is beyond cheap.
If you can’t attract decent pitchers because of it’s HR reputation, then of course change the dimensions. This should’ve happened a long time ago.
Yes but this move also will allow the Orioles (once back in contention) to better attract free agent pitchers. That would seem to me to be the real motivating factor here. (After all, a case could be made that the old dimensions are hit or friendly to both teams.)
I kinda like the shorter walls so that robbed homers are able to occur. 12 feet is out of reach, no? Maybe should’ve left it at 7, or bump it to 9-10
Lol
They were asking about you
I agree, 9-10
Plays at the wall make for thrilling memories/highlights, @2012orioles. Aaron Judge is a blast to watch play in front of shorter walls.
I wonder – however – if perhaps one of the benefits of the 12′ selection is specifically *discouraging* those type of efforts. We’ve all seen a lot of wall/outfielder interactions that have ended poorly or whatever. The wall never loses either.
The major story of Clint Frazier’s career – for example – is the effect his concussion has had on him. 12′ is pretty specific & seems like it would encourage playing it off the wall a lot more.
Interesting perspective, never thought of that
There are definitely some instances where the fence lost Turner Ward and Rodney McCray would challenge you
Why would the author not list the current dimensions? Seems like a basic fact that would shed light on how significant 30’ of additional length is.
Completely agree. Obviously that info can be found elsewhere, but I was surprised to not see any mention of what the foul line or gap distances are currently, or even how they compare to other similarly hitter-ish parks.
(Gleyber Torres projections suddenly get less optimistic)
As does 3/4 of the Orioles lineup…
This is the “Gleyber affect.” He hit like 429 homers in one season there.
Yeah, with all the RH TTO guys we’ve been running out there, I think this may impact us more than it does Baltimore. Gleyber had an All Star election greatly aided by Camden Yards.
This is all Cashman’s fault for failing to trade him to the O’s for Mullins. Now they have to move fences.
{sets hook}
Moving the wall back 30 feet doesn’t sound like a “slight ” adjustment to me. It will now be 363 to the foul pole and 394 to left center?
That’s exactly what I thought. That’s not slight at all. That’s a game changer
No Oriole is gonna hit 30hr ever again. They’re gonna be the SF Giants of the AL, a team that never hits homers.
Just need a hitter that hits to right. Still 318 at the foul pole I believe
Orioles are getting ready for the Adley Rutschman show. Ryan Mountcastle can hit them with the best of them as well.
Interesting. Most stadiums are looking to move fences in, not move them back.
Not most stadiums but Copa may still be a bit deep but that plays into their pitching first organization the Tigers are trying to become. Whereas The Yards is the antithesis.
“…the five highest single season home run totals in history…”
Uh, by whom? Orioles? Visitors? Did someone break Barry Bonds record and I missed it?
Come on Mark! That’s just sloppy!
He’s referring to highest homerun totals allowed by other teams, hence his mentioning of the Orioles “comfortably leading the pack” in that regard.
Though the wording is a bit peculiar.
Barry Bonds owns zero records. He cheated with at least what he admitted as the “the cream and the clear”. He is every bit as pathetic of any known PED user. Hank Aaron is the rightful home run king. I can only hope the BBWAA will shut out both Clemens and Bonds.
This is correct. I have raised my kids with this same understanding re Aaron as the King.
This is correct. I have raised my kids with this same understanding re Aaron as the King.
You can say that again
Bonds is still the HR king, no matter how he accrued his numbers. It sucks, but no amount of fibbing to you kids will change that fact. He’s just not going to be a HOFer in this lifetime.
Hank Aaron is the real home run king and Roger Maris is the single season home run leader.
Thank you, Fred McGriff, for mentioning that. Aaron and Maris are the real home run kings. And McGriff should be in the hall.
Probably trying to lure a few more free agent pitchers to town.
It doesn’t really work in Detroit
Just ask Colorado.
Colorado’s issue isn’t merely the distances to the fences to reduce home runs. Moving them back creates more ground to cover in an already large outfield, meaning more hits on previously likely caught balls. But for pitchers, it’s the reduced spin rate as well due to the thin air. Sliders are especially susceptible to this.
After touring the world, who wants to live in Detroit?
And what free agent pitchers have the Tigers tried to sign who refused?
Because it’s usually publicized when a player turns a team down in free agency. This is such a homer comment.
I guess Camden Yards will now be a pitchers park. No more cheapo homeruns.
30 feet is a lot!
They won’t be able to move the RF wall back at all so it will still be a HR park for LH hitters. Banging HRs off of the building behind RF is still one of the coolest things in baseball, along with HRs that go into the Bay in SF.
Guys hit it out onto Eutaw street fairly often, but AFAIK only Griffey, Jr. actually hit the warehouse.
… 465 feet in the 1993 HR Derby. Ken Griffey’s swing, by itself, should also be elected to the Hall of Fame. Thing of beauty.
Yeah, all the bat-flippers today should be embarrassed because few, if any, can make a swing look that pretty, and they should know it.
They should be embarrassed because they don’t have as beautiful of a swing as the guy who had the most beautiful swing ever ?
No one has hit the warehouse in a real game. griffey hit it in homerun Derby for All-Star game using those phony baseballs.
If they’ve kept accurate(ish) “home run distance” totals in Baltimore, it would be interesting to see how many fewer homers to left would have been hit in the last five years with the new dimensions.
this type of decision should come from that data, money and meeting deadline of July opening day. for the data mining. O’s vs opp LF hits/HR, get average gms lost or wins above wall distance(WAHRD).
Go big or go home I guess. Hayes can cover more ground than the other LF in the division. Jays and Yanks are extremely right handed. Perks. Doubles and triples going to Coors Field levels.
They would have done it sooner but they had to pay Chris Davis the rest of his money first
Thirty feet is aggressive.
Exciting things are happening!! Exciting things!
Well the young pitching must be excited.
If they move the walls back far enough they may wind up in a nicer neighborhood…
Stupid comment. Also untrue.
Probably untrue, but still funny.
They’ve got to go Wayyyyyy back for that
The old “ if we can’t hit it that far , let’s move back and make sure no one else can either “ competitive balance trick …. Very smart
Any further back, and Bodie and Poot can sell outfielders Yellow Tops and Pandemic between innings.
“Ayooo, T…”
I’ve never been to Camden Yards, but I remember when it opened and I fell in love with it! Beautiful ballpark that led to most of teams in baseball securing new “reto” type ballparks. As a Reds fan I miss Riverfront because that’s where I grew up, but I’m luvin GABP now! Well done to the City of Baltimore!
Two things: they’re going to have to take out some prime seating for this. Left field right behind the wall is usually a popular ticket.
Second, this is a long time coming. If you go on fangraphs’ career leaderboards, set minimum innings to 200 IP, and sort by highest HR/9, the top 4 pitchers are all recent Baltimore Orioles. They are:
David Hess, 2.61 HR/9
Adam Plutko, 2.17 HR/9
Asher Wojciechowski, 2.00 HR/9
Ariel Miranda, 1.98 HR/9
While certainly none of those pitchers are particularly good, they shouldn’t be far and away the all time worst at giving up dingers. That speaks to the ball tinkering and the ballpark they’re in.
Yes, they are going to lose a lot of seats by doing this. I wonder if they are going to extend the second and third decks over towards CF a little more to make up for the seating losses. I know Camden rarely sells out but losing that many seats seems like a bad idea unless they can make up for it elsewhere.
And all this time we thought they needed good players to win! Very clever!
What is the affect in terms of additional distance to adding 5 feet of vertical height to the wall? They are moving the wall back 30 feet but what does that change effectively amount to in that the height of the wall is also being increased by 5 feet?
I think it’d punish a launch angle on the low side of optimum. Line drive homers drop but high angle shots still remain about the same. This is for just the rise in fence height though. Moving the fences out also will cut down the extreme highangle shots.
Seems like a bold move considering MLB had demonstrated their inability or unwillingness to provide a ball that consistently performs the same way year over year. Like, I get everyone hating on the sign stealers but the whole glossing over of MLB admitting they de-juiced the ball for the ‘19 playoffs as if it effect the way the games played out. No prob if they’d said “hey this ball ain’t gonna go as far” and dudes would know to not Cadillac balls they hit out all year. The Acuña non-homer off the Chop House bricks is exhibit A. He hit 40-something that year so he knew what hitting one out felt like, then come the playoffs he hits one that feels out so he goes into his trot thing only to find himself on 1st or 2nd (idn remeber) b/c he’d just hit a different baseball than what was used during the regular season.
Acuna still has some growing up to do. I can only hope now that Camargo is gone Acuna will stop dying his hair. Remember the Braves won it all WITHOUT the little drama queen.
Orioles pitchers have also allowed the most home runs in any ball park since 1992.
Welp, this hurts Yankees RHH
The biggest reason they’re an outlier is because their pitching staff has been horrendous for years. Park dimensions don’t matter, both teams are playing on the same field. What matters is constructing your team around your park. When you play in a homer friendly park, you find guys who can hit homers. Aha… the real issue… the almighty dollar… guys who hit HR’s are expensive. Moving fences back is a cost cutting measure.
I blame ……Al.
John Means gave up 30 HRs last year, but it was 15/15 H/A. Still, 27 of 30 HRs were to RH hitters (90%), so I will assume that he gave up 10 +/- HRs to left field at Camden Yards. Someone with more time and better resources can tell me/us how many of his HRs this would have negated, but if it’s 3-4, that’s pretty significant.
Oreo’s pitchers gave up the most HR’s, but they do pitch 1/2 their games on the road. They need to move the fences back across all the MLB parks to help that squad.
This is huge. Long time O’s fan. It’s seems like it’s been forever and a day since we last acquired a #1 or #2 from another team. Why? A lot of gossip here, that said one thread goes like this. Before you can entice a quality pitcher in his prime to come here, his agent must feel comfortable enough to do business with the club. For the owners to make this expensive structural fence expansion, tells me agents are comfortable doing business with Baltimore. Kudos to the Angelos family for putting in place the current management leadership and staff!!!!
Its gonna kill the trade value of Mancini, when the power numbers decline.
Likely 100+ fewer homers per year from the AL East clubs as a whole. Orioles ERAs will benefit greatly. May get more baseball-like final scores. Good deal.
Tired: building a pitching staff based on your ballpark
Wired: building a ballpark based on your pitching staff
Have IKEA build your ballpark so it’s cheap and modular and can be customized to each year’s pitching staff.
“The stretch of the left field wall from the foul pole to the bullpen area in left-center field will be moved back roughly 30 feet, and also elevated to around 12 feet high from its current height of seven feet.”
I missed the word wall when I first read this and thought they were going to add slope to their outfield like that moronic hill they used to have in Houston.
But, just to check…MLB fields are level and flat, right?
For what it’s worth, in the actual announcement, it said the wall would be moved back up to 30 feet at varying points. This, to me, implies that the move will not simply be to start at the pole and push everything back 30 feet. Rather, they’ll likely move the pole back some amount (say, 20 feet?) and then gradually move the wall back as you approach left-center, to an amount somewhere around 30 feet. Possibly adding in some angles.
I’m thinking much more along the lines of how the Mets adjusted the wall in left (although out, obviously, rather than in), and not a uniform 30-foot move.
Thank you for leaving right field alone
-Cedric Mullins dynasty owner
AJ I don’t think they can do much to right field, it has a high wall and elevated porch…then Eutaw Street. To change RF they’d have to move the plate back..
Wow, this is the first time I’ve heard of a team adjusting the outfield wall to make their park more pitcher friendly. Good for them.
You’d think the article would state what the current dimensions in left are including at the line, straightaway left and in the alleys. But no such information is found.
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