Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-11-22
REGULATIONS
FOR HOMERS IS AIM
Fifteen Major League Parks
Employ Different Ground
Rules.


n Jew YORK. November "a
M Short outfields and miscel-
Il Y lAneous ground rules have
finally made Q dent In the
hides Of the owners Of major
league clubs. They want TO try
new regulations in soning their
playing fields. At least vney are
talking about 1t at the aresent
time.
The playing grounds Of the naAior
league clubs, and all other clubs tor
tnat matter, are not uniform. ma
only thing about them that Is ela1Eaax0
Is the. outline OF the iff1eid, winch
must be arranged hy exact measure.
ment. As the legal distance of q home
run Is 100 feet, the outfisld fences at
Eneir shortest point cannot be under
Major league owners do not Admit
that they are tired Of seeing home runs
DATED over fences, but they gr0wl
about this ana the other thing which
Doesn't appeal 10 them on certain
grounds.
Shortest Field.
The shortest outfsld fence In the
majors u that Of The New York Giants:
There Is now 8 ground rule on tbs
Polo Grounds which comedies & home
run II the ball hits the facade of the
stadium ana bounds back into the field.
That rule was made WHEN the AIneri-
can League Club rented the ground
from the Giants. The Yankees initi.
Yves accredited with BEING the original
booster to the hOrne-H1tn crop, Of New
xoEk-and then along came Babe Ruth
The Philadelphia National Leo y
ground has always had the reputa
Of being q band-box, but Il & not iraoi
20 than others. The phillies built hieh
fences to prevent the ball from going
into the main thoruuehfafe. The g une
Of the. Athletics u no vide rr p
area Of the pgairies. e VIII be chssase
fully Z, attss ted Dy the Chicago Cubs ans
: on the around Of sAe 81. Louis
Browns q huge ecreefi was built III
front OF the right field stand TO put ar
end to the surplus honpe-rim crop n
that city. In st. Louis both ejef
leagues play on the same field, ~ al
owned BY the Browns. That Is the on
place In which q park 3 used In corr
mon. Thus there are Is fields N tn
major league, each with . different
ground rule.
xening Uianeuls.
II the playing fields Of tho major
parks are soned, there win be pera
petral row between the rmpifes ana the
players and among the fans, II thu. zone
h not outlined N . way 70 make all the
world see what Kind q hit has bssn
There Il one thought about slais prob
lem Of local ground regulations that 4
sinking deeper end deeper into the
heads Of the elAsb oWnexethat q, 20
wipe che whole bunch 81 the Slate bv
making the ball 10 play no matter
where Il hits or where ID nceB % long.
a Il Il within the p1Aging Neld OF fair
territory. Thme would put an end tse
the home flann on the facade Of the.
pOlo Grounds and 70 al home runs or
limited hits en grounds where rules are
IA force, FOR Instance. e the bali were
bAtted aHAinet the lofty facade Of tn
Polo Grounds and bounded back r.
the field. the fielder would chase II an
the batter would take his chances on
how many bases he could make.
Also, II the bali were made playable
no matter what obstruction u fniahi
hit--that Is, In fair grounds there
would be more agility shown on the
field, more caution on the bases an
about ii score fewer ground rules thar
nov vex the fans ana make the UNI
pire's life miserable.