A famously hitter-friendly ballpark is getting a drastic makeover, one that most batters won't appreciate.
Baltimore's Camden Yards, the home of the Orioles, is set to move some fences back -- some by as much as a whopping 30 feet; extend the height of others; and generously expand foul territory.
The plan was first reported earlier this month, and apparently comes in response to the barrage of home runs launched in Baltimore in recent years.
Taken together, the changes will make the notorious launching pad a decidedly different playing experience, according to ESPN fantasy and betting analyst Derek Carty, who says that the former third-best ballpark for hitters will now play "neutral."
The beloved ballpark opened in 1992, and its short porch and low fences in right field have long been especially inviting to left-handed sluggers.
Under the new dimensions, the advantage for lefties will be largely offset, while righty batters, who were already facing one of the deeper left fields in the league, will now contend with the deepest left field, Carty reported.
This could lead to something of a Coors Field effect, where the extra-spacious outfield leaves more room for base hits to fall in, Carty added, but the bottom line is offense should be down with fewer home runs leaving the yard.
That could be just what the doctor ordered for the O's, who have ranked last or near the bottom of the league in home runs surrendered at home for several years running, per NBC Sports:
No one allowed more home runs at their home stadium last season than the Orioles, who served up 155 long balls to opponents at Camden Yards. They also paced the majors in that category in 2019 (175 home runs), allowed the third-most in 2018 (123) and tied for the second-most in 2017 (127).
The arrival of Camden Yards ushered in the era of new, vaguely retro-themed ballparks cropping up around the league, many of them supplanting larger, bowl-shaped multipurpose venues that were built from roughly the 1950s through the 70s, including Baltimore's Memorial Stadium.
Despite its reputation as a smaller, cozier ballpark, Camden Yards is actually one of the bigger venues in the league by seating capacity, the Baltimore Sun reported, although the new dimensions prompted the removal of about 1,000 seats, bringing the capacity to about 45,000.
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