Tuesday, June 22, 1999Home-run heaven
A "short porch" in right
BY JOHN ERARDI
The Cincinnati EnquirerSo now we know what Reds general manager Jim Bowden meant when he said last month that left-handed sluggers are going to “love” the new Reds ballpark.
The most distinctive feature of the new park will be the 316-foot distance from home plate down the right-field line, according to a preliminary report given Monday to Hamilton County commissioners by HOK Sport, designers of the new park.
INFOGRAPHIC How the stadium measures up That's 14 feet shorter than the right-field line in Cinergy Field, which has always been known as a good sluggers' park, and (depending on the era) either 26 feet or 50 feeter shorter than the right-field line at Crosley Field, which elsewhere was cozy.
“That sounds good to me,” said Reds left-handed slugger Sean Casey of the 316-foot distance. “I wouldn't mind that.”
There will have to be a higher wall in right field than elsewhere in the park, Reds officials said. How much higher hasn't yet been decided. The higher wall will prevent some line drives from leaving the park — perhaps more than people might think.
“I'd rather have it 330 and a medium (height) wall than 316 and a high wall,” said Casey, whose homers tend to be low-trajectory bullets.
But for a left-handed slugger who pulls high-arcing moon shots to right field with ease — a certain guy in Seattle comes to mind — routine fly balls are going to be out of here.
Bowden didn't mention any sluggers by name, but his remark last month about left- handers loving the park was in response to a reporter's question about Ken Griffey Jr.
Bowden alluded to that again Monday night ... again without mentioning any names, which would constitute tampering.
“We are building it (the short porch in right) for left-handed hitters — Sean Casey is one of them,” said Bowden, with a lilt in his voice, when reached by phone.
Whether the Reds could ultimately land Junior — the 29-year-old Cincinnati native and son of Reds bench coach Ken Griffey Sr. — is a question for farther down the line.
Much farther down the line than the 316 feet.
The 316-foot distance would give the Reds the second-shortest right-field porch in the National League, behind only the 308 feet proposed for the Giants' new ballpark in San Francisco. .
The wall in right field in San Francisco will be 20 feet high, “but a 310-foot high fly ball is going to clear it,” said Michael Schuster, a downtown architect who is the Reds' representative in the design process. A 318-foot fly ball will clear Cincinnati's wall.
“We are interested in designing a ballpark people want to play in and visit,” he said. “When there's a video highlight of a ball going over the wall in right field, you won't have to look twice and wonder if it's Cincinnati. That's Jim Bowden's point, and I agree.
“Part of the (distinctiveness) might be what's above or beyond the wall. It might be a sculpture, a fountain or something else.”
Bowden elaborated a bit. “It'll be whatever creative idea the Reds and the county and stadium designers come up with,” he said.
Bowden's personal favorite is a steamboat designed as the Big Red Machine of Bench, Morgan, Rose, Foster, Griffey and Perez, one of the greatest offensive juggernauts ever assembled.
The steamboat is an icon of the river city.
“I don't know what happens when the ball clears the (right-field) wall,” Bowden said. “Maybe steam comes out (of the boat) or bells (sound) or fireworks (explode). I hope it (the creative element) is something very unique that when fans all over the world see it, they relate it to to Cincinnati.”
Schuster said the angle of the wall that runs from 316 down the line to 370 in right-center will be “steep.”
“It's going to produce a different carom than what happens in left-center,” he said. “The ball is going to react differently. That's going to make it fun, too.”
Home runs, which have been so much of a part of baseball's resurgence in other cities, figure to increase in Cincinnati because of the shorter right-field porch. Triples, which many fans think is the most exciting play in baseball because of the race between the outfielder and relay man to beat the runner to third with the throw, may decrease.
At Crosley Field, the deeper distance to right field, when combined with the 30-foot-wide nook in the right-field corner near where the batting cage was stored, produced some triples. Batted balls that entered the nook often emerged as relay throws bound for third or home.
But there won't be a shortage of runs at the new yard.
A premium is going to be placed on pitchers being able to keep left-handed hitters from pulling the ball ... and being careful about throwing to the outside corner against right-handed hitters with decent power to the opposite field.
Bowden didn't seem overly concerned about that. The right-field porch will make for more home runs, but the rest of the yard is about the same size as a typical ballpark, he said.
Enquirer reporter Chris Haft contributed to this story.
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