Should the Reds move the fences back?

[wheels]

The rest of the free world recognizes that the human brain has two sides. Yes, we have the "left side" which in the free world processes things in a "linear, sequential, logical etc..etc..." manner. Then in the brains of the free world we have the "right brain" which is a place for less concrete, intuitive, abstract thought. Some how in the evolution of the redszone the poor right brains were overtaken. Evidently they were trampled by strikeouts, errant throws or poisoned by fancy formulas.

You young chip should put out an APB for your lost hemisphere.

That's pretty deep, man.

[Chip R]

The rest of the free world recognizes that the human brain has two sides. Yes, we have the "left side" which in the free world processes things in a "linear, sequential, logical etc..etc..." manner. Then in the brains of the free world we have the "right brain" which is a place for less concrete, intuitive, abstract thought. Some how in the evolution of the redszone the poor right brains were overtaken. Evidently they were trampled by strikeouts, errant throws or poisoned by fancy formulas.

You young chip should put out an APB for your lost hemisphere.

OK, smart guy, you tell me how an improved defense is going to keep Milton, et. al. from serving up home runs. If the Reds sign Rafael Furcal is he going to run out to left field and jump 20 feet in the air and catch the latest bomb Milton has served up? Is he going to put an extra yard on Milton's fastball? Oh, I know! He's going to bribe the opposing hitters with the money he receives from his new contract. Or maybe he'll talk to the Braves and convince them to not be so hard on poor Eric Milton.

[BadFundamentals]

You talking about raising the fences? Much of the area behind the fence are seating sections.

You would raise the entire outfield seating area? Seats and all? Think about that task.:thumbdown

hmmmmm..... transparent fence? see hockey arenas??

You think there is that little margin right now that 5-10 extra feet of height would significantly block vision? ...maybe so? hadn't thought about that......

[M2]

What hemisphere of the brain is it that causes BF to think that a year of being wildly wrong about every take he's ventured has made him anything other than the resident court jester around here?

[Blimpie]

hmmmmm..... transparent fence? see hockey arenas??

You think there is that little margin right now that 5-10 extra feet of height would significantly block vision? ...maybe so? hadn't thought about that......

Why not just put up an invisible force field? Those don't cost much do they?

For years, Reds fans wait patiently for a new "real ballpark" in Cincy. Natural grass, nice ambience, out of town scoreboard, fans close to the field, etc...But now--instead of efforting quality ML pitching--we should retrofit the park to look like the Metrodome?

[zombie-a-go-go]

You think there is that little margin right now that 5-10 extra feet of height would significantly block vision? ...maybe so? hadn't thought about that......

That's a fact; I've sat in the first row of outfield seats before, and if you raise the wall even five feet you wouldn't be able to see anything at all. And I'm pretty tall.

[westofyou]

When the White Sox built the first Comiskey Park their ace Ed Walsh helped lay out the dimensions for the field, opting for a large expansive OF and the place had a PF of 82 in its first year.

The Reds designed theirs by consulting Juniors swing.

As far as moving the fences back, installing delightful plexiglass barriers or moving HP back (which I think could only stand 5 feet) It's all a waste of time.

The GAB's park PF was 92 then 92 and this year a whopping 113, which also happened to be the year that the Reds led MLB in giving up doubles and home runs. Which also happened to be the year that the Reds had Ortiz and Milton on their staff, plus the fact that Paul Wilson's brief apperance was a mirror of Brian Reith's in 2001 (but for much more money)

Occams Razor much?

[RFS62]

When the White Sox built the first Comiskey Park their ace Ed Walsh helped lay out the dimensions for the field, opting for a large expansive OF and the place had a PF of 82 in its first year.

The Reds designed theirs by consulting Juniors swing.

Exactly.

Junior came here with the promise of an 8 year march towards Aaron's home run record. He was supposed to provide the attendance bounce that Big Mac brought to St. Louis.

[BadFundamentals]

That's a fact; I've sat in the first row of outfield seats before, and if you raise the wall even five feet you wouldn't be able to see anything at all. And I'm pretty tall.

I guess I was thinking more the center field wall where you have open space etc.......??

As for right/left fields, it might be the case (depending on the slant) that removing 3 rows in the front could buy you a fair amount of additional height and distance ?? Put the seats back in somewhere else...?

[paintmered]

I guess I was thinking more the center field wall where you have open space etc.......??

As for right/left fields, it might be the case (depending on the slant) that removing 3 rows in the front could buy you a fair amount of additional height and distance ?? Put the seats back in somewhere else...?

But here's the problem. It's not that easy. Really. There's more to it than unscrewing the seats from the stadium. Concrete needs torn out, electrical conduit needs rerouting, etc.... And then there's that whole structural integrity thing. How is removing all that material going to affect the rest of the stadium? These kinds of things can't happen overnight and require many hours of engineering and skilled labor. The cost would easilly be a few million bucks.

Let's concentrate on finding some pitching instead. The whole idea (while not a bad one) just sounds like it's more trouble than it's worth.

[Cyclone792]

I guess I was thinking more the center field wall where you have open space etc.......??

As for right/left fields, it might be the case (depending on the slant) that removing 3 rows in the front could buy you a fair amount of additional height and distance ?? Put the seats back in somewhere else...?

Structurally, the cost would be ridiculous, rendering it mostly a waste of time and precious money. I'm not even sure homeplate could be moved back more than perhaps a foot or so since the seats down the lines near the wall also cradle the foul line. Let's face it, the Reds built a bandbox of a ballpark and there's nothing we can really do about it now. In fact, the outfield is so small that it actually helps suppress run scoring because outfielders are able to catch up to many more balls than in more spacious outfields. Essentially, the effect on overall run scoring the high HR index contributes to is negated by a low park index for doubles and triples. The end result for overall runs is that the park is rather neutral.

Probably the most feasible way to alter the home run index at GABP is for somebody to conduct a massive wind study, and attempt to see that if any minor modifications at the top of the stadium could redirect the wind patterns. Of course, by saying most feasible that's not necessarily implying that that is even possible, either. Like any other suggestion, it's likely to cost way too much money to be worth it ... plus you wouldn't want to run the risk of creating another Candlestick effect by messing with the wind patterns.

[919191]

I guess I was thinking more the center field wall where you have open space etc.......??

As for right/left fields, it might be the case (depending on the slant) that removing 3 rows in the front could buy you a fair amount of additional height and distance ?? Put the seats back in somewhere else...?

You are serious, aren't you?

[Red Leader]

I guess I was thinking more the center field wall where you have open space etc.......??

As for right/left fields, it might be the case (depending on the slant) that removing 3 rows in the front could buy you a fair amount of additional height and distance ?? Put the seats back in somewhere else...?

Maybe they could move those seats and have seating on top of the "Plexiglass Monster", or move them on top of the batters eye and call it "Adam's Pad".

[MWM]

They could dig up the entire field and leave the walls where they are now making it a "pit" type of field. It would be similar to the Big House in Michigan.

[Red Leader]

They could dig up the entire field and leave the walls where they are now making it a "pit" type of field. It would be similar to the Big House in Michigan.

Great idea, maybe the ball won't carry as well if we dig it about 70 feet below sea level. It could be the anti-Coors.

Maybe they'd consider naming it "The Underground Railroad" Ballpark since its next to the Underground Railroad Museum