Let’s go over the ground rules

Posted on May 13, 2004 by Charles Kuffner

Via Jack, I too enjoyed this article by Rob Neyer on the quirky ground rules at some of Major League Baseball’s stadia. One thing I’d point out is that the well-known “ground rule double” has some history to it that belies the simplicity of a ball bouncing over the fence. Originally, any fair batted ball that exited the field of play was a home run (in 1926, a minimum distance of 250 feet for a home run was established). In 1931, when the rule was changed so that a ball had to leave the field on the fly to be a homer, it encompassed balls the went under or even through an outfield fence. (See Rule 6.09, sections d and e.) Since this was only possible at certain venues, this came to be thought of as a ground rule. Alas, with stadium construction being what it is now, it’s pretty much only bouncing over the fence, plus the oddball examples Neyer lists.

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2 Responses to Let’s go over the ground rules

  1. William Hughes says:
    May 13, 2004 at 10:05 am

    I knew about the ground rules at Wrigley Field and the Metrodome, but I wasn’t sure about the ones involving the ladder or the right side of the Green Monster at Fenway Park (and I was just there last weekend. Interestingly, nothing was mentioned about what the rule is if the ball hits the roof at Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

    If a baseball hits the roof at Olympic Stadium in Montreal, and no one is there to see it, does anybody care?

  2. Tuttle says:
    May 13, 2004 at 2:57 pm

    My local AA team used to play at the classic Engel Stadium before moving into their new cookie-cutter stadium a few years ago. Way out on the centerfield wall (471′ to dead center!) there were two concrete coke bottles, about 8 feet tall, sitting atop the wall. Hitting the bottles was a home-run even if it bounced back into play… plus the hitter got $1,000!

    They took the bottles to the new stadium but I don’t have the foggiest idea what the ground rules are for them (or where they are, I won’t go to “Bellsouth” stadium).

    Here’s a picture of the center field corner, one bottle is behind the lighting scaffolding:

    http://www.minorleagueballparks.com/engelcf.jpg

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