Wednesday, March 10, 1999
Reds weigh which way to point home plate in new ballpark
Batters' safety, entrance, backdrop must be considered
BY LUCY MAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
For fans, the position of the field in the Reds' new riverfront ballpark is all about the views from the stadium. For the players, it's all about personal safety.
“When you have a 100-mph fastball coming through, it's important not to have the sun in your eyes,” Reds Managing Executive John Allen said.
Or, as architect Michael Schuster put it, if home plate faces west, “the batter's dead.”
Determining the field's orientation is the next big step in designing a new home for professional baseball's oldest team. Hamilton County commissioners plan to discuss the alignment this morning.
The ballpark will sit just west of Firstar Center on the riverfront at a site known as Baseball on Main or the “Wedge.” Initial county estimates put the cost at $297 million.
The Official Rules of Baseball says this about field orientation: “It is desirable that the line from home base through the pitchers plate to second base shall run East-Northeast.”
But Mr. Allen said the Reds favor a southeast orientation because the ballpark's entrance could be close to downtown and right behind home plate. Such positioning also opens up possibilities of a view of the river behind center field.
“I think it would be pretty spectacular,” he said.
HOK Sport, the Kansas City. Mo., firm designing the ballpark, was to explain the orientation options to county commissioners at their weekly meeting this morning.
Commissioner Bob Bedinghaus said he expects the firm will recommend a southeast orientation, the alignment Mr. Bedinghaus also favors.
“It brings the entrance to the ballpark closer to downtown, and that's our goal,” he said. “The key to this is to make the riverfront as much a
part of downtown as possible.”
Cinergy Field's orientation is just slightly south of east. Adopting that orientation in the new ballpark would open up views to Firstar Center, the arena formerly known as the Crown.
The team also has discussed a northerly or northeastern orientation for the ballpark, Mr. Allen said.
The idea behind a northerly orientation is opening up views into downtown. A northeastern orientation would point toward Mount Adams.
Mr. Allen insists that sun “will not be a problem” with a southeastern orientation. Certainly, sun will be in someone's eyes any time a game is played during the day, Mr. Allen said.
But, he added, “You can't build a ballpark without the batter's eye being properly considered.”
Mr. Schuster, the downtown architect who is working for the Reds during the ballpark design, said the players he has talked with like the idea of a southeast orientation, too.
“Obviously, baseball should be played on a bright, sunny day,” he said. “But basically, you want to protect the batter, and you also want to protect the catcher.”
To get views of the river and Northern Kentucky with a southeast orientation, architects would have to cut out seats in center field. Mr. Schuster said that's been a trend in ballpark designs because it eliminates some of the least desirable seats.
Mr. Bedinghaus said the orientation isn't something commissioners must vote on, but it's an issue HOK wanted to present to the county before it was discussed Friday during the city-county Riverfront Steering Committee meeting.
Making the call on field orientation, he said, is important to planning the ballpark.
“Trying to figure out where home plate is going to be is a giant step forward,” he said. “Once we get this done, we'll be able to concentrate on the design of the outside of the building.”
The county and Reds are hoping to have a new stadium ready for the 2003 season. Cinergy Field will be demolished.
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