I recognize that the real estate market isn't very good right now, however what's going on at Oakland's Overstock.com Coliseum is ridiculous. We often hear about parks such as Philadelphia's Citizen's Bank Park, Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, and old Tiger Stadium in Detroit as "jokes." That means that they're so hitter-friendly that long fly balls turn into homers without much effort. I would argue that Overstock.com Coliseum (the former Oakland Coliseum) is just as much of a "joke," however in the opposite manner. Not only is it nearly impossible to knock the ball out of there, but what might generally have been an extra-base hit can easily turn into an out. That doesn't really work when you're an AL East team that likes to hit the ball around the ballpark a lot. In fact, it shouldn't work for anyone. To the Athletics' credit, they use the dimensions of their home yard to their advantage. They hit fewer homers than any other major league team, but they are good at hitting-for-average and running. Suddenly they have runners in scoring position, and those runners are crossing the plate. Then you have a team like the Orioles that comes into town expecting to hit the ball all over the place, and they're sorely disappointed.
I'm not in favor of making major league outfields uniform dimensions across the board. In fact, it would be impossible to do so (unless you grandfathered every existing ballpark) because each ballpark is unique. However I do think that some parks need to be looked at and potentially altered. This goes both ways, as I would agree that in some parks it's too easy to hit home runs. However when J.J. Hardy sent a deep shot to center last night that died in the center fielder's glove, I felt that the dimensions of the field were overly harsh towards hitters. I don't disagree that players should have to work for home runs, and that they shouldn't be thought of as dime-a-dozen plays. However again, Oakland's Coliseum provides the opposite problem; pitchers get the luxury of keeping the ball up in the zone and not necessarily having to worry about sluggers hitting it out. I'm not one of these guys that thinks baseball needs more scoring, because I recognize and appreciate that pitching is a part of the game. I love a good pitchers' duel as much as a slug fest. However the Coliseum allows pitchers to be lazy and not have to worry about what they're doing as much.
...and don't get me started on the foul territory. If the A's were smart they'd raise their ticket prices and have professional bull riding in foul grounds during the games to create a two-for-one event. I'm not suggesting that parks such as Fenway or even Camden Yards should be the norm in that they have next-to-no foul ground. However there's so much foul territory in Oakland that the fielders can barely cover it all. If Earl Weaver had managed the A's he could have planted his garden in foul territory as opposed to the bullpens! Speaking of the bullpens, one thing I do like about the Coliseum is that the pens are down the baselines. Whereas most players and coaches don't like that at all, I think it gives a nostalgic feel to a park because that's where the bullpens used to be in the old time parks (look at Wrigley Field for an example). Now they generally put the bullpens in the outfield and fenced off from the field of play. However the problem with how they're configured in Oakland is that they almost seem to jet out into the field. Home plate in the visitors' bullpen is about two fee from the right field foul line.
This might sound like sour grapes given that Oakland's taken the first two games of this weekend's series. However I feel that it's an argument that's factual given that the Orioles' run totals have gone down since they arrived in Oakland. From the Athletic's standpoint they probably see that as home field advantage, and they're right. In fact, I've seen many players (specifically rival players in the AL East) use the dimensions of Camden Yards to their advantage against the Orioles. While that might seem unfair and as if it's turning the tables, keep in mind that guys like Derrek Jeter and Kevin Youkilis have much more experience hitting at Oriole Park than do the likes of Jones and Wieters. Nevertheless, many of the newer ballparks are being contstructed as fair to both pitchers and hitters as opposed to with one side in mind. Opposing teams such as the O's have to deal with the dimensions of Oakland's Coliseum as best they can, but that doesn't mean that those dimensions are fair to all parties.
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