Arizona Diamondbacks home stadium. Why is it the only field with a dirt path to the mound ?

April 172010

I have never seen this before anywhere else.
Don`t they have to be uniform ?

It is an old school nod to ballpark fields of previous generations. It was designed back in the day for a path for the catcher to the mound. The only uniformity is the dimensions of the diamond itself, lines in the batter’s box, along the baselines, etc.

10 Responses

  1. PurdyBoy Says:

    All stadiums are different, home plate to the fences even changes greatly.
    I suspect that the architect thought that dirt would help control bad ground balls that would hit the pitcher.
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  2. Richard C Says:

    It is an old school nod to ballpark fields of previous generations. It was designed back in the day for a path for the catcher to the mound. The only uniformity is the dimensions of the diamond itself, lines in the batter’s box, along the baselines, etc.
    References :

  3. Awesomeness in a box Says:

    It’s not. Comerica Park in Detroit has one, I know for sure. It’s just whatever the architect of the stadium wants to do, just like turf instead of grass, indoor vs. outdoor, or the distance to the outfield walls.

    (By the way, Go TIGERS!!!!!!!)
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  4. crader72 Says:

    No, actually there are very few rules about the shape, dimension or length of grass for a baseball field. After the basepaths, height of mound and distance from the pitchers plate to home plate, almost anything goes.
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  5. Subcomandante Insurgente Steve Says:

    The infields don’t have to be *manicured* the same way, they just have to have the same dimensions.

    I’ve seen the dirt path on plenty of other baseball fields, just not in the MLB.
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  6. reds_1990 Says:

    Old school diamonds were like that & no they don’t have to be uniform every single place is different in some way.
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  7. LgNd Peanut Says:

    Comerica Park – Detroit Tigers
    References :
    ballparksofbaseball.com

  8. Renegade 25 Says:

    Baseball Stadiums do not have to be in uniform. Other sports need the dimensions to be perfect. That is a reason baseball is so great.

    Baseball fields only have to follow a few rules like basepath lengths and angles.

    But Comerica Park in Detroit has one. I really disagree with this though.
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  9. Amanda loooooves Utley+Phillies! Says:

    No. All the fields are different. The dimensions and the field. I really don’t like that field but hey, at least we don;t go there a lot. They probably wanted to be different but I think it’s point less.
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  10. Open Season Says:

    They wanted people to think they were concerned about the environment. Less grass means less water and fertilizer
    References :

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