As team rebuilds, Orioles have big plans for its main jewel, Camden Yards

[DrungoHazewood]

3 minutes ago, fansince1988 said:

The "new rail" was installed after the 2011 season, just for historical reference.

Really? I've been to numerous games since then and still think of the standing room area as unfriendly to the normally-heighted.  My observational skills may be in decline.

[Number5]

4 hours ago, DrungoHazewood said:

We're not going to transform OPACY into a bathtub shape like the Polo Grounds, but we can reasonably approximate the nearly 500' distance to the CF clubhouse and the Eddie Grant memorial.  From the photo here, you can see that it's about 463 feet to the base of the big green wall below the outfield terrace bar.  I'd say that's about 30' tall.  So that makes it more-or-less impossible to hit a ball over that wall.  We'd also have the triangle up against the bullpen, where the ball could actually go over the pen and then land back in play, out of direct sight for some of the field.  Triple, ISTP homer heaven. And in theory that could also happen with the bleachers, with the ball just clearing the left-most seats and landing back in play.

Another option would be to move the bullpens somewhere else and open up that whole CF area to the playing field.  The back wall of the upper bullpen is about 465' from the plate.

No, none of this is ever going to happen.

This would bring up some interesting rule issues. 

Some fields that I've played and umpired on have a fence in front of the bench area that then turns 90 degrees beyond the bench , going back to a fence that is behind the bench, and then the in/out of play line follows the back fence all the way down the right and/or left field lines.  This creates a corner area similar to what you are talking about beyond the bench area.  By rule, on each of these fields, a ball that is overthrown and goes into these areas behind first and third base is in play, but if the fielder retrieving the ball attempts a throw home from that corner that passes over the out-of-play area, that is a dead ball, out of play.  He needs to step out of the corner before throwing home.  Rare occurrence, but it has happened, and the umpires cover this in the pre-game conference with the coaches.

If OPACY were to be configured in the way discussed here, this would create this rule situation not only regarding a thrown ball retrieved in the corner created, but also on batted balls passing over the fence, as you mentioned.  Creating a special ground rule allowing a thrown ball to pass over an out-of-play area and remain in-play and live could perhaps pass muster and be allowed by MLB, but I have a hard time envisioning MLB allowing a batted ball that passes over the fence in fair territory to not be ruled a home run.  You'd almost have to have a pole similar to a foul pole that would enable the umpires to better be able to rule whether the ball is a home run or in play.  Interesting scenario, but I think it is pretty unlikely.

[DrungoHazewood]

1 hour ago, atomic said:

You could only let in adults who have children.  The zoo serves beer and I never see any adults acting inappropriately.   I am not sure why beer is seen as an evil in the US.   I drink beer when I go places with my daughter and its never an issue.  I think the problem is the people who have 6 beers and pickles before the game.  But really other than opening day I haven't seen people getting out of control drunk at Orioles games. 

You should be there when they have betting on the Lions vs. the Giraffe fights.  Wild stuff.

[fansince1988]

4 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

Really? I've been to numerous games since then and still think of the standing room area as unfriendly to the normally-heighted.  My observational skills may be in decline.

https://www.masnsports.com/orioles-buzz/2012/03/a-peek-at-the-renovations-to-be-unveiled-at-camden-yards.html

[DrungoHazewood]

2 minutes ago, Number5 said:

This would bring up some interesting rule issues. 

Some fields that I've played and umpired on have a fence in front of the bench area that then turns 90 degrees beyond the bench , going back to a fence that is behind the bench, and then the in/out of play line follows the back fence all the way down the right and/or left field lines.  This creates a corner area similar to what you are talking about beyond the bench area.  By rule, on each of these fields, a ball that is overthrown and goes into these areas behind first and third base is in play, but if the fielder retrieving the ball attempts a throw home from that corner that passes over the out-of-play area, that is a dead ball, out of play.  He needs to step out of the corner before throwing home.  Rare occurrence, but it has happened, and the umpires cover this in the pre-game conference with the coaches.

If OPACY were to be configured in the way discussed here, this would create this rule situation not only regarding a thrown ball retrieved in the corner created, but also on batted balls passing over the fence, as you mentioned.  Creating a special ground rule allowing a thrown ball to pass over an out-of-play area and remain in-play and live could perhaps pass muster and be allowed by MLB, but I have a hard time envisioning MLB allowing a batted ball that passes over the fence in fair territory to not be ruled a home run.  You'd almost have to have a pole similar to a foul pole that would enable the umpires to better be able to rule whether the ball is a home run or in play.  Interesting scenario, but I think it is pretty unlikely.

Pretty unlikely?  I'd say fantastically unlikely.  Have you ever heard of the Randall Munroe book What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions?  A large part of my brain is devoted to inventing and solving ridiculous situations in baseball that are almost certain to never happen.  What would be the ruling if a ball hit in fair territory lodged into the pocket of a passing marsupial?

I love that there are totally obscure ground rules like that, although I don't understand why the typical case is that you can't throw a ball over an out-of-bounds area.  You can reach into an out-of-bounds area like the stands and make a catch, right?

[Number5]

6 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

Really? I've been to numerous games since then and still think of the standing room area as unfriendly to the normally-heighted.  My observational skills may be in decline.

We all have our crosses to bear.    I assure you that you find riding in an airplane or the back seat of a car a much more comfortable experience than I do.

[DrungoHazewood]

3 minutes ago, Number5 said:

We all have our crosses to bear.    I assure you that you find riding in an airplane or the back seat of a car a much more comfortable experience than I do.

I drove a Mini Cooper S until my kids were seven and six, and I often shake my head in dismay at all the SUVs blighting our roadways.  Coach on a transatlantic flight is not pleasant, but not completely awful. If I were 6' 3" I might have a different perspective.

[Number5]

2 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

Pretty unlikely?  I'd say fantastically unlikely.  Have you ever heard of the Randall Munroe book What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions?  A large part of my brain is devoted to inventing and solving ridiculous situations in baseball that are almost certain to never happen.  What would be the ruling if a ball hit in fair territory lodged into the pocket of a passing marsupial?

I love that there are totally obscure ground rules like that, although I don't understand why the typical case is that you can't throw a ball over an out-of-bounds area.  You can reach into an out-of-bounds area like the stands and make a catch, right?

Yes, provided the fielder has not established himself out of play.  Once he steps or lands out of play, any catch he makes thereafter is out of play (either a foul ball or a home run).  If he leaps and catches the ball before landing, it is a legal catch and an out.  If he remains in play and reaches and catches the ball, the ball remains live, unless it was the third out.  With runners on and less than two outs before the play, if he catches and carries the ball out of play, record the out and advance each runner one base.  Most fences nowadays are tall enough that this situation is quite rare.

[DrungoHazewood]

15 minutes ago, Number5 said:

This would bring up some interesting rule issues. 

That reminds me that I once read, probably in a Bill James book, that there was a minor league park that had a part of the stands that stuck out just over one of the foul lines.  Just a little triangular section, and that was well in front of the normal fence.  But I have no recollection of how they dealt with it in the rules, or if that was discussed. I know I'm not making this up, but I'll never be able to figure out where it came from.

[DrungoHazewood]

3 minutes ago, Number5 said:

Yes, provided the fielder has not established himself out of play.  Once he steps or lands out of play, any catch he makes thereafter is out of play (either a foul ball or a home run).  If he leaps and catches the ball before landing, it is a legal catch and an out.  If he remains in play and reaches and catches the ball, the ball remains live, unless it was the third out.  With runners on and less than two outs before the play, if he catches and carries the ball out of play, record the out and advance each runner one base.  Most fences nowadays are tall enough that this situation is quite rare.

So... what about the marsupial?

[weams]

33 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

You should be there when they have betting on the Lions vs. the Giraffe fights.  Wild stuff.

The Giraffes did not win again. I don't know why I steadfastly think it will change. 

[Number5]

Just now, DrungoHazewood said:

So... what about the marsupial?

LOL  Blair High School has a family of geese that takes up residence out by the right-center field fence each year.  I've never seen or heard of a play where the geese interfered with a player trying to retrieve a ball, but if it did occur, the umpires would kill the play and place the runners by umpires' judgment. 

[Redskins Rick]

1 hour ago, DrungoHazewood said:

You should be there when they have betting on the Lions vs. the Giraffe fights.  Wild stuff.

What team was, the Indians, that had dollar bill bottle night, and the fans drank so much, they were tossing the bottle everywhere onto the field and throwing them at people.

Which is why bottles never leave the beerman now.

 

[wildbillhiccup]

3 hours ago, atomic said:

You could only let in adults who have children.  The zoo serves beer and I never see any adults acting inappropriately.   I am not sure why beer is seen as an evil in the US.   I drink beer when I go places with my daughter and its never an issue.  I think the problem is the people who have 6 beers and pickles before the game.  But really other than opening day I haven't seen people getting out of control drunk at Orioles games. 

Funny related story. I once went to Brew at the Zoo and witnessed a drunk father dangle his small infant baby in front of the glass as bait to lure the lions closer, so there's that...

[DrungoHazewood]

7 minutes ago, Redskins Rick said:

What team was, the Indians, that had dollar bill bottle night, and the fans drank so much, they were tossing the bottle everywhere onto the field and throwing them at people.

Which is why bottles never leave the beerman now.

 

Nickel beer night in Cleveland.  Throw down a $5 bill and ask for 100 beers. By the late innings fans were chasing players around the field, the game was forfeited, and the league president told the Indians in no uncertain terms that this kind of thing wasn't going to happen again.