Before and after: See the transformation of Camden Yards’ left field wall
The seats a record Cal Ripken homer reached and Mike Devereaux reached into are now as bygone as those magic Orioles moments. Designed to make the home run haven fairer and, perhaps, more appealing to free agent pitchers, Camden Yards’ new left field wall is taller, farther from home plate, and, near the foul pole, and, especially, the bullpens, more sharply angled. To get a feel for how it will play, drag the before-and-after slider above and dig into some essential stats below.
Oriole Park at Camden Yards’ new left field fence: By the numbers
2: Until now, number of times Oriole Park at Camden Yards’ dimensions had changed. (Home plate was moved back to create a larger playing field in 2001, then returned to its original location the next season.)
4: Number of names, and counting, suggested for the new right angle in left-center, including Adley’s Angle and Elrod’s Corner.
7: Height, in feet, of the old left field wall.
12: Approximate height, in feet, of most of the new left field wall, tied for the 6th tallest in the majors.
14: Percent of Camden Yards home runs the last seven seasons that would have stayed in play under the new layout, according to a Sun analysis.
30: Feet farther the new wall, approximately, is from home plate, than the old one.
82: Days between the announcement of the new wall on Jan. 14 and its unveiling on April 6.
333, 376: Feet from home plate to the left field foul pole and to the bullpens, each unchanged from the original distances.
384, 398: Feet from home plate to the left field corner and left-center field, each new, longer distances.
1,000: Number of seats removed to make room for the new wall, including the orange seat commemorating Cal Ripken’s 278th home run, which set a record for shortstops.
