Baseball's Best Stadium Quirks

Rangers manager Chris Woodward made headlines the other day when he called Yankee Stadium a "Little League park" after Gleyber Torres hit a walk-off home run to the short porch in right field (Woodward was oddly quiet, however, after the Rangers benefitted from two Yankee Stadium home runs in Game 2 of the doubleheader).  He claimed that the home run would've been an out in "99 percent" of Major League parks which, even if his math was correct, wouldn't have been true.  Which is part of the beauty of baseball.

Every football field, hockey rink and basketball court has the exact same dimensions.  Sure, sometimes there's a football stadium with an open end that makes one side winder than the other or the fans might be closer to the action in one venue or another.  But, for the most part, they're all the same.

In baseball, though, that's most certainly not the case.  Every ballpark is unique.  They all have different dimensions and distinct features.  It's the original Yankee Stadium with the monuments in play in center field.  It's the Polo Grounds and its ridiculously deep center field.  It's the LA Coliseum's left field wall that was less than 300 feet away.

There's something unique about each of the 30 current Major League parks.  That's why some are called "pitcher's parks" and others are classified as "hitter's parks."  Some are more distinct than others, but they all own their quirks as their own.  Some even have multiple quirks.  Here are the 10 best (and by "best," I mean most unique):

1. Fenway Park: Fenway's outfield has so many crazy features that they could all be counted separately.  There's the Pesky Pole in right, which is basically at a right angle from home plate.  Then there's the triangle in center.  But, of course, the most distinct thing not just in Fenway Park, but perhaps in all of baseball, is the Green Monster in left.

2. McCovey Cove: McCovey Cove might be my favorite feature of any ballpark.  Remember when Oracle Park first opened and they had the tracker for how many home runs Barry Bonds hit into the water?  They actually still have it.  It's up to 93.

3. Wrigley Field's Ivy: For all the renovations that have been done at Wrigley Field in recent years, two things have remained constant.  They still have the brick walls, and they're still covered in ivy.  While not necessarily the safest thing for outfielders, it makes for a beautiful sight.  Wrigley's also barely got any foul territory, yet they somehow managed to squeeze the bullpens down the lines.

4. Tampa's Catwalks: Tropicana Field is dark and ugly.  It's also one of the most unique parks in baseball.  The catwalks supporting the roof, for example, are in play.  If a ball hits one, it's either a ground-rule double, home run or out, depending on where (or if) it lands.  Which is, yeah, unique.  It has bullpens on the field, too, another distinctive feature of Tampa's stadium that was already outdated when it opened.

5. Oakland's Foul Territory: It was the last stadium to be home to both an NFL and MLB team at the same time, which explains why foul territory in Oakland is so vast.  It also explains why the A's have never had a batting champion since moving to Oakland.  Lots of room to catch foul popups and front row seats that are very far from the field.  The Oakland Coliseum (or whatever they're calling it these days) is one of the worst parks in the Majors.  Those are only some of the reasons why.

6. B&O Warehouse: Camden Yards was the first of the retro parks and it's as beautiful today as it was when it opened 30 years ago.  The B&O Warehouse beyond the right field wall is by far its most distinctive feature.  While it's not part of the field of play, it certainly impacted the dimensions.  It's just 318 feet down the right field line and Camden Yards has been considered a hitter's park since it opened.

7. Western Metal Supply: San Diego's got its own version of the warehouse.  There's is in left field.  Western Metal Supply is a 100-year-old building that was incorporated into the ballpark's design and a fun home run target.  I remember Giancarlo Stanton hitting one off the window during the 2017 World Baseball Classic.

8. The Crawford Boxes: When they built Minute Maid Park, they had "Tal's Hill" in center field, a small incline with a flagpole that, for some reason, was in play.  Fortunately, Tal's Hill is no longer a feature of Minute Maid Park.  The Crawford Boxes very much are, though.  They make for a very short left field before dramatically cutting back in left center, creating Houston's own version of the Fenway triangle.

9. Right Field at PNC Park: Roberto Clemente is the best and most famous player in Pittsburgh Pirates history.  He wore number 21 and played right field.  So, it makes sense that when the Pirates built PNC Park, they would want to honor Clemente.  As a result, they have a 21-foot wall in right field.

10. Field of Dreams: Yes, I'm cheating a little bit on this last one.  But can you blame me?  The whole point of playing an MLB game at the Field of Dreams was to recreate the magic of the movie.  So, of course, the outfield wall was gonna be made of cornstalks that the players would walk out of!  Heaven?  No.  It's Iowa.