“Walltimore” is no more.
The Baltimore Orioles announced Friday they would resize Camden Yards ahead of the 2025 regular season. The left field wall is the focus of the changes, just three years after it was pushed back to its current distance.
From 1992 to 2021, Camden Yards was one of the most hitter-friendly parks in the MLB. The team then moved the left field wall back to 350 feet and 350 feet at its deepest points, and the righties saw their power numbers drop as a result.
Now the 4 meter high wall will be shortened to 2.4 meters in some places and to 1.80 meters in others. The deepest points will be 374 and 376 feet, and the wall will make a 120-degree cut into the previous playing field.
General manager Mike Elias explained the reasoning behind the adjustments during a press conference on Friday.
“Our hope is that by tightening the dimensions a little, we can get closer to our original goal: a neutral playing environment that supports a balanced playing style in a park that was overly home-friendly prior to our changes in 2022,” said Elias. “It’s a little overly lopsided now, considering what we did back then.”
Orioles GM Mike Elias announced they are changing the dimensions of the left field wall at Camden Yards.
Here’s a view of the proposed changes pic.twitter.com/V30TN2e25m
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) November 15, 2024
According to Statcast, there were 138 fewer home runs at Camden Yards between 2022 and 2024 than the previous dimensions.
Ryan Mountcastle, who has lost 11 home runs over the past three seasons due to the modified left field wall, will certainly be happy to see the fence retracted. Adley Rutschman, Jorge Mateo and Anthony Santander – who became a free agent earlier this month – were all robbed of seven.
“The feedback was consistent that the extreme of inequality in the park was a little more of a talking point than we expected. We didn’t like that this had become a distraction in many ways,” Elias said. said. “I know the pitchers enjoyed it. But for our hitters, especially our right-handed hitters – and also our left-handed hitters – the aspects of this were a little bit serious.”
No new seats will be added to the left field stands, although a platform for “Mr. Splash” will be installed in the gap between the new and old walls next to the bullpens. Mr. Splash is the team’s chief hydration officer who sprays Section 86 – “The Bird Bath” – with a hose.
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