Ballpark facts for kids

"Baseball Park" redirects here. For the stadium in Perth, Australia, see Empire Ballpark.

Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox and the oldest ballpark in Major League Baseball

Globe Life Field, home of the Texas Rangers and the newest ballpark in Major League Baseball

A ballpark, also called a baseball park, is a special place where baseball games are played. Think of it as a big field with seats for fans. The playing area is split into two main parts: the infield and the outfield. The infield has strict measurements for where the bases are, but the outfield can be different sizes and shapes in each ballpark. Bigger ballparks are sometimes called baseball stadiums.

What Makes a Ballpark Special?

The Baseball Field: A Diamond Shape

A diagram showing the baseball infield

The main playing area is often called a diamond. The infield is a perfect diamond shape made of dirt and grass. It holds the three bases, home plate, and the pitcher's mound. Usually, there's grass between the bases and home plate, with a dirt mound in the middle for the pitcher. Some fields use artificial turf, and a few, like Koshien Stadium in Japan, have an all-dirt infield.

Two white lines stretch out from home plate, going past first and third base. These are the foul lines. If a batter hits the ball outside these lines, it's a "foul" ball, and the play stops. If it lands on or between the lines, it's a "fair" ball. At the end of these lines are foul poles. If a ball hits a foul pole in the air, it's a home run!

Near home plate, there are two batter's boxes where players stand to hit. Behind home plate is the catcher's box, where the catcher and umpire stand. Coaches' boxes are next to first and third base. Coaches stand here to give signals to players running the bases.

Away from the field, you'll find the dugouts. This is where players and coaches sit when they're not playing. They're called "dugouts" because they are often built below the field level. This helps fans in the seats see the game better.

Beyond the infield is the large, grassy outfield. It's usually about twice as deep as the infield. Fences surround the playing field. Outfield fences can be different heights. Sometimes, a fence is made taller if it's very close to home plate.

Many professional ballparks have a "warning track" around the field. It's a strip of dirt or rubber about 10 feet wide. This track warns players that they are getting close to the fence, so they don't crash into it.

Behind the outfield fence, there's a special area called the batter's eye. This area has no seats and is usually a dark color. It helps the batter see the white baseball clearly when it's pitched.

Most major league ballparks face north or east. This is so the setting sun doesn't shine directly into the batter's eyes during games.

Where Fans Sit: Grandstands and Bleachers

Today, in Major League Baseball, a large seating area called a grandstand wraps around the infield. It often has many levels. How far these seats go down the field lines changes from park to park. In smaller leagues, the grandstands are much smaller.

Beyond the outfield fence, the seating is usually different. This area might have cheaper bleacher seats or smaller grandstands. In local parks, you might just see a few rows of metal bleachers.

Ballpark Differences: Not All Fields Are the Same

Unlike sports like football or basketball, which have fixed-size fields, baseball fields can vary a lot in their outfield shape and size. Only the infield has strict measurements.

Baseball leagues often set a minimum distance from home plate to the outfield fences. Better players hit the ball farther, so bigger fields prevent too many home runs. Since 1958, new major league fields must be at least 325 feet down the lines and 400 feet to center field. However, many newer parks have received special permission to have different sizes.

Older ballparks, like Fenway Park, were allowed to keep their original sizes. For example, Fenway Park has a famous 37-foot-high wall in left field called the Green Monster. This tall wall helps stop easy home runs in that shorter part of the field. Some ballparks even have fences that are shaped unevenly, with curves or sharp angles, to make the game more interesting. These unique shapes often came from how the land was available when the park was built.

How Ballparks Got Their Names

Baseball started in open fields or public parks. One famous early spot was Elysian Fields in New Jersey, where people played organized games in the 1840s. That's why early baseball places were often called "Field" or "Park."

When professional baseball began, fields added seats and fences to charge people to watch. Then, names like "Grounds" became popular, such as the Union Grounds in 1862. The last major league "Grounds" was the Polo Grounds in New York City, which was taken down in 1964.

The word "stadium" has been used for sports places since ancient times. As baseball grew, bigger venues were built. Yankee Stadium, built in 1923, was one of the most famous to use "Stadium" in its name. After that, most new major league venues used "Stadium."

Later, for indoor fields, the word "Dome" was added, like the Houston Astrodome. In recent years, some new parks have gone back to using "Park" in their names, even for domed stadiums.

Where Ballparks Are Built

The location and design of ballparks depend on many things, like how many people they need to hold and how fans get there. Early ballparks were often far from city centers. Going to a game was a big event, and fans used public transportation.

As professional baseball grew, games became more common. It became important for fans to get to games easily. Many ballparks were built closer to city centers or in neighborhoods where fans lived. Classic ballparks often had little space for cars because most fans took public transport. This is still true for places like Fenway Park in Boston and Wrigley Field in Chicago.

Later, as more fans owned cars and moved to the suburbs, parking became a big deal. Some ballparks added parking garages, or new parks were built in the suburbs with huge parking lots. These stadiums often looked like an "island" in a "sea" of parking.

Today, many new ballparks try to offer both: a city location with good public transportation and plenty of parking.

Different Kinds of Ballparks

Wooden Ballparks: The Early Days

The Huntington Avenue Grounds during the 1903 World Series

The first professional baseball fields were large wooden ballparks. They had seats on wooden platforms and sometimes iron poles for support. The outfield had tall walls covered in ads. Wood was cheap, but it had a big problem: it dried out and caught fire easily. Many parks burned down completely.

Because of the fires and baseball's growing popularity, builders started using stronger, fire-resistant materials like steel and concrete. These new parks often lasted for many decades and are now called "jewel boxes." Today, no professional wooden ballparks are left.

Jewel Box Ballparks: The Classics

Fenway Park is the oldest active ballpark in Major League Baseball. The famed Green Monster is the left field fence.

The first ballparks built with reinforced concrete, brick, and steel are known as jewel box ballparks or classic parks. The Baker Bowl in Philadelphia (1895) was one of the first to use steel and brick. Shibe Park (1909), also in Philadelphia, was the first to use reinforced concrete.

These parks often had two levels of seating. Steel pillars supported the upper decks, which sometimes blocked the view for some lower seats. But these upper decks could be built very close to the field. Yankee Stadium was built with three levels to hold huge crowds, setting a new standard.

Many jewel box parks were built in city blocks, so their outfield fences often had unusual shapes and tall walls. This was to prevent too many easy home runs. Famous examples include the 40-foot wall at League Park in Cleveland and the Green Monster at Fenway Park.

These parks sometimes hosted other sports like football. The seats were usually angled best for baseball. Today, only Fenway Park and Wrigley Field are still used by Major League Baseball teams.

Multi-Purpose Stadiums: One Size Fits All?

An aerial view of Three Rivers Stadium around 2000

From the 1960s to the early 1990s, many multi-purpose ballparks were built. People sometimes called them "concrete donuts" because they were often round or square and made of bare concrete. The idea was to build one stadium that could host baseball, football, and soccer, saving money.

These stadiums often had seating that faced the center of the field, not home plate. This meant some seats were very far from the action. The outfield dimensions were usually symmetrical. While they were cost-effective, these stadiums often weren't great for any one sport.

A big change in these parks was the cantilevered upper deck. This design removed the support columns that blocked views in older parks. However, it also meant the upper decks had to be farther from the field, and roofs were smaller, leaving fans more exposed to the weather.

The Rogers Centre in Toronto, opened in 1989, was a multi-purpose stadium with a retractable roof and even a hotel! It was a big step forward. However, most purely open-air multi-purpose parks are no longer used for baseball. The Oakland Coliseum was the last one, but the Athletics moved out in 2024.

Indoor Ballparks: Beating the Weather

Tropicana Field, the only active indoor-only MLB ballpark

Indoor parks have a fixed roof, often a hard concrete dome. They were built to escape bad weather, like the heat and humidity in Houston (the Astrodome) or the rain in Seattle (the Kingdome).

Because there's little natural light, these parks usually have artificial turf instead of real grass. Artificial turf makes the ball bounce faster and higher, which changes the game. The roofs were often dull white or gray, making it hard for batters to see fly balls.

The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis had a roof made of inflatable fiberglass, held up by air pressure. It collapsed three times in its first three years due to heavy snow!

Today, Tropicana Field is the only indoor-only park built just for baseball that still hosts a Major League Baseball team. It is expected to be replaced soon. Newer indoor stadiums can now grow real grass, but the first ones couldn't.

Modern Ballparks: Baseball-Focused Design

Dodger Stadium's colorful seats

While many teams built multi-purpose stadiums, some chose to build parks just for baseball. These modern ballparks kept some new features, like cantilevered upper decks (no blocked views) and colorful seats. They often had plain concrete outsides and symmetrical outfields.

Many modern parks, like Dodger Stadium and Kauffman Stadium, have aged well. Instead of building new ones, teams have updated them with new features. Milwaukee County Stadium was an early example, known for its round outfield fence and colorful seats.

Dodger Stadium, opened in 1962, is a great example of a modern ballpark that has been updated but still keeps its original design. Rogers Centre and Tropicana Field can also be seen as modern ballparks, even with their special roofs.

The last modern ballpark built in North America was New Comiskey Park (now Rate Field) in 1991. It has since been updated to look more like a retro-classic park.

Retractable-Roof Ballparks: Open or Closed

Rogers Centre was the first working retractable-roof stadium, shown open and closed.

Retractable-roof parks offer the best of both worlds: they can be closed to protect from bad weather or opened when the weather is nice. To support the roof, most are enclosed on all sides.

A key feature of these parks is a large area where the roof slides or folds when it's open. The Rogers Centre in Toronto was the first fully working retractable-roof park. Its roof folds back over a hotel in center field.

Retractable-roof parks come in many styles, from simple designs like Rogers Centre to those with classic or modern touches. The style depends on when they were built. For example, Chase Field has a retractable roof and a swimming pool, which were new ideas for ballparks.

Retro-Classic Ballparks: A Nod to the Past

Camden Yards started the trend of smaller, red brick and forest green stadiums.

In 1992, Oriole Park at Camden Yards opened in Baltimore. It looked like the old "jewel box" parks with its red brick and forest green colors, but it had modern features and comforts. This started a trend for retro-classic ballparks.

Since Camden Yards, many major league teams have built new ballparks with unique designs. These parks are mainly for baseball, but they can also host other events. Rate Field, originally a modern park, was updated with retro-classic features like different roof shapes and a dark green color.

The newest retro-classic ballparks opened in New York City in 2009: Citi Field (inspired by Ebbets Field) and Yankee Stadium (like the old "House that Ruth Built"). However, teams are now moving towards retro-modern or contemporary designs.

Retro-Modern Ballparks: Old Meets New

Progressive Field was the first retro park with a modern exterior.

Some ballparks combine the classic feel of retro parks with modern looks. These are called retro-modern ballparks. Progressive Field, built in 1994, was one of the first. It had the unique fences and smaller upper decks of a retro park, but its outside didn't look like the old brick jewel boxes.

Many parks today follow this style. Their outsides often use white or gray steel instead of brick. They might also have modern elements like glass walls or retractable roofs.

Angel Stadium is a great example. It started as a modern park, became a multi-purpose stadium, and then was renovated to a retro-modern ballpark. It now has green steel and sandstone-colored concrete, with much of its outfield seating removed to look more like its original design.

Chase Field, opened in 1998, was a retro-modern park with a retractable roof and even a swimming pool! This showed how new features could be added to the retro style. Later retro-modern parks, like Nationals Park and Target Field, used more glass and unique designs, pushing the style even further.

Contemporary Ballparks: Looking to the Future

LoanDepot Park has a modern, Miami-themed design with glass, curved shapes, and bright colors.

After two decades of retro styles, a new design appeared in 2012 with the opening of LoanDepot Park in Miami. This new style is called contemporary. Its goal is to show off the current culture of the city where the stadium is built, moving away from looking like old ballparks.

USA Today noted that LoanDepot Park might mark the end of the "Camden Yards era" of retro design. This park has a unique, Miami-themed design with sculptural glass, curved shapes, and bright colors.

Es Con Field Hokkaido in Japan, opened in 2023, is another example of this contemporary style. The new ballpark for the Las Vegas Athletics is also being designed to fit the modern feel of the Las Vegas Strip.

Temporary and Converted Ballparks

The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, built for college football, became the temporary home of the Dodgers in 1958.

Sometimes, teams need a place to play while a new stadium is being built. These are called temporary ballparks. For example, when the Dodgers moved to California, they played in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum while Dodger Stadium was under construction.

Converted ballparks are existing minor league or college fields that are made bigger for a major league team. They were originally built for baseball, just not for the major leagues. Memorial Stadium in Baltimore and Metropolitan Stadium in Minnesota were examples of converted ballparks.

Recently, temporary ballparks have been used again. Sahlen Field hosted the Toronto Blue Jays in 2020 and 2021 due to travel rules. Sutter Health Park is the temporary home for the Athletics from 2025 to 2027. Also, George M. Steinbrenner Field will be the temporary home for the Tampa Bay Rays in 2025 after Tropicana Field was damaged by a hurricane.

These types of ballparks are defined by how they are used, not by their design. So, a temporary or converted ballpark could also be a jewel box, modern, or multi-purpose style.

Current Major League Stadiums

How baseball field dimensions are measured

This table shows the distances from home plate to different parts of the outfield wall for current Major League Baseball stadiums.

LF and RF are distances along the foul lines.
LC and RC are for the "power alleys" (where many home runs are hit).
CF is for center field.
BS is the distance behind home plate to the backstop.

In 1958, MLB said new parks should be at least 325 feet down the lines and 400 feet to center. Older parks didn't have to follow this rule. However, many new parks have been allowed to have different sizes since 1991.

Stadium	Team	City	Capacity	LF	LC	CF	RC	RF	BS
American Family Field	Milwaukee Brewers	Milwaukee	41,900	344 ft	370 ft	400 ft	374 ft	337 ft	54 ft
Angel Stadium	Los Angeles Angels	Anaheim, California	45,957	330 ft	382 ft	400 ft	365 ft	330 ft	59 ft
Busch Stadium	St. Louis Cardinals	St. Louis	43,975	335 ft	375 ft	400 ft	375 ft	335 ft	55 ft
Chase Field	Arizona Diamondbacks	Phoenix	48,519	330 ft	376 ft	407 ft	376 ft	335 ft	58 ft
Citi Field	New York Mets	Queens, New York	41,922	335 ft	379 ft	408 ft	383 ft	330 ft	45 ft
Citizens Bank Park	Philadelphia Phillies	Philadelphia	43,651	329 ft	355 ft	401 ft	357 ft	330 ft	60 ft
Comerica Park	Detroit Tigers	Detroit	41,574	345 ft	370 ft	420 ft	388 ft	330 ft	62 ft
Coors Field	Colorado Rockies	Denver	50,398	347 ft	390 ft	415 ft	382 ft	350 ft	54 ft
Daikin Park	Houston Astros	Houston	41,574	315 ft	404 ft	409 ft	408 ft	326 ft	56 ft
Dodger Stadium	Los Angeles Dodgers	Los Angeles	56,000	330 ft	368 ft	400 ft†	368 ft	330 ft	53 ft
Fenway Park	Boston Red Sox	Boston	37,673*	310 ft	389 ft 9 in††	420 ft	380 ft	302 ft	60 ft
Globe Life Field	Texas Rangers	Arlington, Texas	40,300	329 ft	372 ft	407 ft	374 ft	326 ft	42 ft
Great American Ball Park	Cincinnati Reds	Cincinnati	42,319	328 ft	365 ft	404 ft	365 ft	325 ft	52 ft
Rate Field	Chicago White Sox	Chicago	40,615	335 ft	375 ft	400 ft	375 ft	330 ft	60 ft
Kauffman Stadium	Kansas City Royals	Kansas City, Missouri	37,903	330 ft	387 ft	410 ft	387 ft	330 ft	50 ft
loanDepot park	Miami Marlins	Miami	36,742	344 ft	386 ft	407 ft	392 ft	335 ft	47 ft
Nationals Park	Washington Nationals	Washington, D.C.	41,888	336 ft	377 ft	402 ft	370 ft	335 ft	53 ft 2 in
Sutter Health Park	Athletics	West Sacramento, California	10,624	330 ft		403 ft		325 ft	58 ft
Oracle Park	San Francisco Giants	San Francisco	41,915	339 ft	399 ft	391 ft	415 ft	309 ft	48 ft
Oriole Park at Camden Yards	Baltimore Orioles	Baltimore	45,971	333 ft	364 ft	410 ft	373 ft	318 ft	58 ft
Petco Park	San Diego Padres	San Diego	39,860	334 ft	378 ft	396 ft	387 ft	322 ft	45 ft
PNC Park	Pittsburgh Pirates	Pittsburgh	38,362	325 ft	389 ft	399 ft	364 ft	320 ft	55 ft
Progressive Field	Cleveland Guardians	Cleveland	34,820	325 ft	370 ft	410 ft†††	375 ft	325 ft	60 ft
Rogers Centre	Toronto Blue Jays	Toronto	41,500	328 ft	375 ft	400 ft	375 ft	328 ft	60 ft
T-Mobile Park	Seattle Mariners	Seattle	47,574	331 ft	375 ft	405 ft	365 ft	326 ft	62 ft
Target Field	Minnesota Twins	Minneapolis	38,649	339 ft	377 ft	404 ft	367 ft	328 ft	46 ft
George M. Steinbrenner Field	Tampa Bay Rays	Tampa, Florida	11,026	318 ft	399 ft	408 ft	385 ft	314 ft
Truist Park	Atlanta Braves	Cumberland, Georgia	41,149	335 ft	385 ft	400 ft	375 ft	325 ft	TBA
Wrigley Field	Chicago Cubs	Chicago	42,495	355 ft	368 ft	400 ft	368 ft	353 ft	60 ft
Yankee Stadium	New York Yankees	The Bronx	46,537	318 ft	399 ft	408 ft	385 ft	314 ft	52 ft 4 in

* Fenway Park holds 37,227 people during day games.

** Tropicana Field can expand to hold 42,735 people.

†The actual distance to center field is 400 feet; the 395-foot markings are to the left and right of dead center.

††At Fenway Park, deep center is 379 feet and straightaway center is 389.75 feet.

†††At Progressive Field, the distance to deep center field is 410 feet and straightaway center is 400 feet.

Images for kids

The Huntington Avenue Grounds during the 1903 World Series
Elysian Fields, where early baseball was played
The old Yankee Stadium, known for its unique left field fence
An aerial view of Three Rivers Stadium around 2000
The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, a temporary home for the Dodgers