TDA Bullpen - Our Writers' Blog

Friday, January 21, 2005

More on RFK's Playing Field

The Washington Post has an article today about the playing field being re-laid at RFK Stadium for the Washington Insiders, aka the Washington Nationals. The new dimensions have been released for the symmetrical field: down the lines it will play 336 (it was 335 feet originally), in the alleys 380 (the same as before), to dead center 410 (also the same). Home plate is in the same spot, the foul poles are apparently just a bit further back than where they were before. The article doesn't describe the foul ground, but it looks very much like Oakland's field layout, but with a few more box seats crammed towards the plate -- so with pitcher-favorable foul ground, relative to most other parks these days, as most of the multipurpose stadiums played in their day.

The Post makes the mistake of interviewing a couple of old Senators with speculation about what the field will play like, and comes to the conclusion that it will be "fair", meaning neutral to pitchers and hitters. This ignores a couple of historical facts: the park was played in during the 1960s at the height of the extreme pitchers' era; and the article also neglects to mention that the mound dimensions will be lower, as the mound was higher up during the 1960s. The mound for the new RFK will be "portable", so it can be removed for other events, and that means it will not be liked by pitchers. The new surface is natural grass, Bermuda turf they're laying out now, which they claim will play fast -- but my observations of retrograded grass surfaces is they always play rough, especially in an area like RFK that's naturally wet (the stadium was built over a swamp).

The dimensions are not hitter-friendly, nor will the humid near-sea-level conditions be conducive to big flies. Neither will there be a lot of direct wind coming down on the field. The new turf will cause a lot of errors, and unearned runs, but my hunch from the descriptions and the stadium diagram is that under current playing conditions, it will play like a pitcher's park. Balls won't carry, a lot more will be caught in foul ground. The infield is a complete wildcard, but if the grass is fast and it's also new turf, that means lots of errors and hits through the infield.

Frankly, as I read this back to myself, the characteristics seem not entirely unlike the Big O in Montreal. minus the astroturf. Vive le difference...la plus ca change la plus la meme....?

posted by The Crank 9:41 AM