Baseball field


Baseball diamond marines
The baseball diamond of the San Diego Padres' Petco Park, seen from the left field stands.


Baseball diamond
Diagram of a baseball field.

The starting point for much of the action on the field is home plate (officially "home base"), which is a five-sided slab of whitened rubber, 17 inches (43 cm) square with two of the corners removed so that one edge is 17 inches long, two adjacent sides are 8.5 inches (22 cm) and the remaining two sides are 12 inches (30 cm) and set at an angle to make a point. The plate is set into the ground such that its surface is level with the surrounding ground. Adjacent to each of the two parallel 8.5-inch sides is a batter's box. The point of home plate where the two 12-inch sides meet at right angles is at one corner of a 90-foot (27.43 m) square. The other three corners of the square, in counterclockwise order from home plate, are called first, second, and third base. Three canvas or rubber bases 15 inches (38 cm) square and 3–5 inches (7.6–12.7 cm) in thickness made of soft material mark the three bases.

Near the center of the square is an artificial hill known as the pitcher's mound, atop which is a white rubber slab known as the pitcher's plate, colloquially the "rubber." The specifications for the pitcher's mound are described below.

All the bases, including home plate, lie entirely within fair territory. Thus, any batted ball that touches those bases must necessarily be in fair territory. While the first and third base bags are placed so that they lie inside the 90-foot square formed by the bases, the second base bag is placed so that its center (unlike first, third and home) coincides exactly with the "point" of the ninety-foot square. Thus, although the "points" of the bases are 90 feet apart, the physical distance between each successive pair of base markers is closer to 88 feet (26.8 m).[2]

The lines from home plate to first and third bases extend to the nearest fence, stand or other obstruction and are called the foul lines. The portion of the playing field between (and including) the foul lines is fair territory; the rest is "foul territory." The area within the square formed by the bases is officially called the infield, though colloquially this term also includes fair territory in the vicinity of the square; fair territory outside the infield is known as the outfield. Most baseball fields are enclosed with a fence that marks the outer edge of the outfield. The fence is usually set at a distance ranging from 300 to 420 feet (90 to 130 m) from home plate. Most professional and college baseball fields have a right and left foul pole. These poles are at the intersection of the foul lines and the respective ends of the outfield fence and, unless otherwise specified within the ground rules, lie in fair territory. Thus, a batted ball that passes over the outfield wall in flight and touches the foul pole is a fair ball and the batter is awarded a home run.

First base

Chris Davis, Kevin Pillar (34422505340)
Kevin Pillar of the Toronto Blue Jays reaches first base safely as Chris Davis of the Baltimore Orioles attempts to scoop a bouncing ball thrown by one of the other infielders during a game in May 2017




Second base

Second baseman Brian Dozier trying to turn double play
Brian Dozier of the Minnesota Twins leaps over a sliding Jonathan Schoop of the Baltimore Orioles attempting to turn a double play



Third base

Andy Wilkins rounds the bases


The third baseman is the defensive player whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base. A third baseman ideally possesses quick reaction to batted balls and a strong arm to make the long throw to first base. The distance from 3rd to 1st is about 127 feet (39 m). In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the third baseman is assigned the number 5.

Home plate

Home base of baseball field in Třebíč, Třebíč District
Home plate of a baseball field


The dimensions of home plate are 17 inches (43 cm) across the front, 8.5 inches (22 cm) down each side, with a triangular rear of two sides of 12 inches (30 cm). The rear edges are at 45 degrees to the sides, making a point at the back.[1] The plate is white and surrounded by a black strip 34 inch (1.9 cm) in width. The plate sits entirely in "fair" territory, with the two rear edges aligned with the right and left field foul lines. The length and angle requirements for home plate mandate that it is not a regular pentagon; it is a 17 by 8.5 inches rectangle with an isosceles triangle of base 17 inches and equal sides of 12 inches attached to the back.


Batter's box and catcher's box



The chalk lines delineating the two foul lines are rarely extended through the batter's boxes. However, those lines exist conceptually for the purpose of judging a batted ball fair or foul. In addition, inside edges of the batter's boxes are often not laid-in with chalk. Similarly, though not marked, those lines continue to exist for the purpose of the rules pertaining to the batter's box and the batter's position relative thereto.


Foul poles

One of two foul poles at Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia.

Foul poles, if present, help umpires judge whether a fly ball hit above the fence line is foul (out of play) or fair (a home run). The poles are a vertical extension of the foul lines at the edge of the field of play. The outer edge of the foul lines and foul poles define foul territory. Both the lines and the poles are in fair territory, in contrast to American football and basketball, where the lines marking the playing boundaries are out of bounds. The minimum distance to hit a home run (along either foul line) is set by baseball rules, generally at 325 feet (99 m).[4]




Pitcher's mound

Baseball pitch release


In Major League Baseball, a regulation mound is 18 feet (5.5 m) in diameter, with the center 59 feet (18 m) from the rear point of home plate, on the line between home plate and second base. The front edge of the pitcher's plate or rubber is 18 inches (46 cm) behind the center of the mound, making the front edge's midpoint 60 feet 6 inches from the rear point of home plate. Six inches (15 cm) in front of the pitcher's rubber the mound begins to slope downward. The top of the rubber is to be no higher than ten inches (25 cm) above home plate. From 1903 through 1968, this height limit was set at 15 inches (38 cm), but was often slightly higher, sometimes as high as 20 inches (51 cm), especially for teams that emphasized pitching, such as the Los Angeles Dodgers, who were reputed to have the highest mound in the majors.






Running baseline


Running lane

Beginning halfway between home and first base, and ending at first base, there is a second chalk line to the right of the foul line. This second line and the part of the foul line it runs parallel to, form the running lane that defines the path in which a batter-runner must run as he is advancing to first base. Rule 6.05(k) of the Official Baseball Rules states that, if a batter-runner running to first base runs outside the running lane, and "in doing so" interferes with the fielder taking the throw at first, then the batter-runner is automatically out. First base itself is not located in the running lane, but Rule 6.05 lets the batter-runner leave the running lane "by means of a step, stride or slide in the immediate vicinity of first base" to step on first base.[6]

Grass line

Metrodome ALDS Oct 2004
The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, showing a white "grass" line.


In artificial turf stadiums, infield dirt was originally only placed around the bases and around the pitcher's and batting areas, which are referred to as "sliding pits." In this configuration, the "grass line" is usually designated with a white arc. Among Major League Baseball fields, Rogers Centre was the last stadium to maintain this type of configuration and was reconfigured with a full dirt infield starting in the 2016 MLB season.[7]



The outfield is made from thick grass or artificial turf. It is where the outfielders play. The positions to play in the outfield are left, center, and right field (named in relation to the batter's position; thus left field is beyond third base and right field is beyond first base). Outfields vary in size and shape depending on the overall size and shape of the playing field. The outfield stretches from the infield to the outfield wall and it contains the warning track. Outfields especially vary from Little League to Major League fields. Little League outfields vary more in size than Major League outfields. Outfields often differ from infields in the specific type of grass used, but most Major League outfields are grass.[8]

Warning track

Outfield warning track from the right field line, Husky Field - Baseball
The warning track abutting the outfield fence of Husky Field, used by the Houston Baptist Huskies baseball team


A warning track's width is not specified in the rules. It is generally designed to give about three steps of warning to the highest-level players using the field. Typical widths run from about six feet for Little League fields to about 10–15 feet (3.0–4.6 meters) for college- or professional-level play. A warning track this wide also lets groundskeepers avoid driving maintenance vehicles on the grass.





Outfield wall

Green Monster 2006
Jacob's Field Fultz and Betancourt in the Bullpen
Pitchers warming up in the bullpen




On-deck circles


Coach's boxes



The basic layout of the diamond has been little changed since the original Knickerbocker Rules of the 1840s. The distance between bases was already established as 90 feet (27.43 m), which it remains. Through trial and error, 90 feet had been settled upon as the optimal distance. 100 feet would have given too much advantage to the defense, and 80 feet too much to the offense.


In an attempt to "increase the batting," the front edge of the pitcher's box was moved back 5 feet in 1881, to 50 feet (15 m) from home plate. The size of the box was altered over the following few years. Pitchers were allowed to throw overhand starting in 1884, and that tilted the balance of power again. In 1887, the box was set at 4 feet (1.2 m) wide and 5.5 feet (1.7 m) deep, with the front edge still 50 feet from the plate. However, the pitcher was compelled to deliver the ball with his back foot at the 55.5-foot (16.9 m) line of the box, thus somewhat restricting his ability to "power" the ball with his overhand delivery.[10]:96

In 1893, the box was replaced by the pitcher's plate, although "the box" is still used today as a slang term for the pitcher's location on the field. Exactly 5 feet was added to the point the pitcher had to toe, again "to increase the batting" (and hopefully to increase attendance, as fan interest had flagged somewhat), resulting in the seemingly peculiar pitching distance of 60.5 feet (18.44 m).[10]:230

Many sources suggest that the pitching distance evolved from 45 to 50 to 60.5 feet. However, the first two were the "release point" and the third is the "pushoff point," so the 1893 increase was not quite as dramatic as is often implied; that is, the 1893 rule change added only 5 feet to the release point, not 10.5 feet.




Honors and awards


See also

  • Official Rules of Major League Baseball
  • The Baseball Encyclopedia, published by Macmillan Publishers


  3. ^ James, B. New Historical Baseball Abstract.
  4. ^ "Field Dimensions". Retrieved March 5, 2018.
  5. ^ "Official Rules". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  6. ^ Mahony, Phillip (2014). Baseball Explained. McFarland Books.
  8. ^ "Major League Baseball Ballpark Grass and Turf". Retrieved 2018-03-06.
  10. ^ a b Lansch, Jerry. Glory Fades Away.

External links

Baseball at the 2018 Asian Games

Baseball at the 2018 Asian Games was held in Jakarta, Indonesia from 21 August to 1 September 2018. A total of ten teams, the most ever, competed in the competition at two competition venues in Jakarta: GBK Baseball Field and Rawamangun Baseball Field. The baseball teams of Laos, Sri Lanka and hosts Indonesia made their Asian Games baseball debut. The top six ranked teams, along with the hosts Indonesia (ranked eighth), advanced to the main draw. The bottom three teams competed, with the winner advancing to the main draw.

Batter's eye

The batter's eye or batter's eye screen is a solid-colored, usually dark area beyond the center field wall of a baseball stadium, that is the visual backdrop directly in the line of sight of a baseball batter, while facing the pitcher and awaiting a pitch. This dark surface allows the batter to see the pitched ball against a sharply contrasted and uncluttered background. Its purpose is the safety and hitting success of the batter. The use of a batter's background has been standard in baseball (as well as cricket) since at least the late 19th century. The batter's eye performs the same role at a baseball venue as the sight-screen does at a cricket venue, except that a cricket sight-screen is usually white in order to contrast with the dark red cricket ball. Alternatively a black screen is used to contrast the white Limited Overs cricket ball.


In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm-up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if they have not yet played in a game, rather than in the dugout with the rest of the team. The starting pitcher also makes his final pregame warm-up throws in the bullpen. Managers can call coaches in the bullpen on an in-house telephone from the dugout to tell a certain pitcher to begin his warm-up tosses.

Each team generally has its own bullpen consisting of two pitching rubbers and plates at regulation distance from each other. In most Major League Baseball parks, the bullpens are situated out-of-play behind the outfield fence. There are currently three MLB parks with bullpens in playable foul territory: Oracle Park, Oakland Coliseum and Tropicana Field.

City Park (New Orleans)


Denison Field

Denison Field was a baseball field in Winter Haven, Florida. The stadium was built in 1928 with a wooden grandstand. It was the spring training home of the Philadelphia Phillies from 1928 to 1938, and the New York Giants in 1940.

The field was located just west of the current site of the National Guard Armory at the intersection of Avenue C and Sixth Street Southeast. and is the current site of high school football field, Denison Stadium.The Giants attracted 15,743 paying fans during sixteen games in 1940 and children were admitted free.

Duel at the Diamond

The Duel at the Diamond is the name given to the college baseball series between the Virginia Cavaliers baseball team and the VCU Rams baseball team, two NCAA Division I teams that play in Central Virginia.


Infield is a sports term whose definition depends on the sport in whose context it is used.



Joe Nathan Field

Joe Nathan Field is a baseball field on the campus of Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, New York, United States. The field is home to the Stony Brook Seawolves baseball team of the NCAA Division I America East Conference. It is located at the northern end of the school's athletics complex. The field opened on May 20, 2011, replacing Stony Brook's old baseball field, which was known as University Field from 2002 to 2011. The old facility was known as Seawolves Field through the 2002 season, when its name was changed to University Field.The stadium is named after then–Minnesota Twins pitcher and Stony Brook alumnus Joe Nathan, after Nathan's $500,000 gift made extensive renovations possible. The stadium's construction cost was $1.3 million.

Monmouth Hawks baseball

The Monmouth Hawks baseball team is a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey, United States. The team is a member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, which is part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The team plays its home games at Monmouth Baseball Field in West Long Branch, New Jersey. The Hawks are coached by Dean Ehehalt.


In baseball, on deck refers to being next in line to bat. In a professional game, the batter who is on deck traditionally waits in a location in the foul territory called the on deck circle.

Being on deck only guarantees the batter will get a chance to bat in the inning if there are fewer than two outs, and the number of outs plus the number of baserunners adds up to fewer than three because a double or triple play could occur. Additionally, the manager reserves the right to pull the on-deck hitter for a substitute at his discretion.

The player next in line to bat behind the on deck batter is referred to as being in-the-hole.


The outfield, in cricket and baseball, is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In soccer (association football), the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area.

Payne Park

Payne Park is a former baseball field from 1924 to 1990 in Sarasota, Florida. The stadium and field were built on a portion of 60 acres (0.24 km2) of land donated by Calvin Payne and his wife, Martha. Payne Park today is a 29-acre (0.12 km2) public park used for recreational events.

Scottsdale Stadium

Scottsdale Stadium is a baseball field located in Scottsdale, Arizona, United States. The new stadium was built in 1992 and holds 12,000 people. It has been the spring training home of the San Francisco Giants since 1984, when the capacity was just 4,721.

The stadium hosted three games of the 2006 World Baseball Classic.

Trinity Tigers

The Trinity Tigers is the nickname for the sports teams of Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. They participate in the NCAA's Division III and the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC). The school mascot is LeeRoy, a Bengal tiger. In the 1950s, LeeRoy was an actual tiger who was brought to sporting events, but today LeeRoy is portrayed by a student wearing a tiger suit. Early in its history, the school participated in Division I/II athletics, but by 1991 the entire program made the move to Division III, at which time it joined the SCAC.Trinity fields strong teams, evidenced by its finishes in the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) Learfield Directors' Cup, which recognizes the strength of athletic programs by division. Since the Directors' Cup inception in 1995, Trinity has finished in the top 10 on five occasions out of over 400 Division Ill programs; it finished 31st in 2017-18.In recent years, Trinity has reached the national Division III playoffs in several sports, including football (national runners-up, 2002), women's basketball (2003 national champions), volleyball (second place in 1999), baseball (national champion in 2016), women's cross country, men's and women's track and field, and men's and women's soccer (men's team won the national title in 2003 and placed second in 2007; women placed second in 2013). In 2011-12, the Trinity sports program reclaimed Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference "President's Trophy," awarded to the school in the conference that has the best overall sports record for the year, for the first time in seven seasons; as of 2017, the school has won the President's Trophy every year since. Prior to that drought the Tigers had won the award eleven out of the preceding twelve seasons.In addition to team success, individual Trinity student-athletes have won a number of championships over the years which are detailed below.

Club sports include men's and women's Lacrosse, Water Polo, and Trap and Skeet.

UIS Prairie Stars

The UIS Prairie Stars (also Illinois–Springfield Prairie Stars and formerly Sangamon State) are the athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois at Springfield, located in Springfield, Illinois, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Prairie Stars compete as members of the East Division of the Great Lakes Valley Conference. UIS joined the GLVC in October 2008, and earned full Division II membership in August 2010.

Prior to joining the NCAA, UIS was a member of the American Midwest Conference (AMC) of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).

In 2018, both the baseball and softball programs won GLVC Conference Championships and hosted NCAA Regionals.

Warning track

The warning track is the part of the baseball field that is closest to the wall or fence and is typically made of dirt, instead of grass or artificial turf like most of the field. It runs parallel to the ballpark's wall and looks like a running track. The change of terrain from grass to dirt serves as a "warning" for fielders trying to make a deep catch that they are running out of room, since it is often difficult for the fielder to keep his eye on a fly ball while keeping track of his position relative to the wall. The track can also be utilized to bypass the outfield by allowing authorized pedestrians and vehicles to maneuver around the perimeter of the field, thus preventing ruts and/or divots from forming in grass playing surfaces.

Despite the warning track's presence, it is common to see outfielders crash into the wall to make a catch, due to a desire to field the play regardless of the outcome and/or because they fail to register the warning in time (as the track is on the ground, an outfielder pursuing a fly ball in the air will be looking in the opposite direction and thus the warning track would be out of the outfielder's line of sight in any event).

The "track" part of the term comes from Old Yankee Stadium, where an actual running track was built for the use of track and field events. It was soon realized that the track also helped outfielders running backwards know when they were approaching the wall, and soon every ballpark was using one. However, there still are professional fields without a proper warning track, such as Tropicana Field, which uses brown-colored turf. The Tokyo Dome at one point had no warning track.The average length of the warning track (depending on the ballpark) is 690 ft while the width is 15 ft.Like Tropicana Field, Toronto's Rogers Centre features a warning track with merely brown-colored turf due to its former multipurpose configuration, though this may change if and when the stadium switches to a natural grass field for the Blue Jays with the 2016 departure of the Canadian Football League's Argonauts to BMO Field.

Wesleyan Cardinals football

The Wesleyan Cardinals football team represents Wesleyan University in the sport of American football. It is a member of the Division III New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) and competes against traditional Little Three rivals Amherst and Williams. Wesleyan is one of the 39 founding members of the NCAA. The Cardinals’ home field, Andrus Field, is the oldest continuously used American football field in the world. (It is also the oldest continuously used baseball field in the world as the Wesleyan baseball team also uses Andrus Field.)

Wukesong Arena

The Cadillac Arena (Chinese: 凯迪拉克中心) (originally Wukesong Culture & Sports Center (simplified Chinese: 五棵松体育馆; traditional Chinese: 五棵松體育館)) is a multipurpose indoor arena in Beijing. It was originally built for the 2008 Summer Olympics basketball preliminaries and finals. Ground was broken on 29 March 2005 and construction was completed on 11 January 2008.

The stadium has a capacity of 19,000 and covers an area of 63,000 square metres. It includes a modern, flexible ice hockey rink designed and produced by Finnish rink manufacturer Vepe Oy in November 2016.

Baseball concepts
Game process
Base running


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