Driller's Stadium Construction Progress

[DowntownNow]

For those that missed it, Tulsa World published an article by Jay Cronley - "Ill Wind Blows Into Ballpark"http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20090327_206_A11_Accord426983

This article seems to address some long standing concerns many had since the first conceptual drawings were released and the orientation of the field displayed. 

This city's new downtown baseball park will not conform to tradition when it comes to alignment.

It appears that the line from home plate through the mound and over second base will run into the southeast; which is to suggest that when the south wind is howling, a left-handed batter couldn't hit a homer near the line in right using an aluminum bat against an aged pitcher.

To compensate for any possible week- or monthlong southerly gale, somebody said the right-field line would be only about 307 feet.

Three hundred and seven feet, home to the wall — that's a short field, a very short field.

Aren't coach-pitch fences around 310 down the lines?

In a raging southerly flow, games will be scored in the 2-1 vicinity and will last an hour and a half; in a calm setting, it's apt to be 11-10 in the bottom of the fourth.

But talk about fan-friendly. Be sure to take a glove to the games. Given the customary south winds, there should be, oh, 65 or 70 souvenir pop foul balls available for snagging per game.

I'm hoping this doesn't become a $39.2 million flub as a result of these concerns.  I recall many in here and on the Tulsa World voiced concerns about these issues before construction started yet our local leaders chose to push ahead with all due haste.  I'm wondering if the ballpark design and orientation was vetted by the league and deemed acceptable for its shorter baseline and direction?  Stymied, do you know?

I'd hate to see issues like these effect Bedlam or other major baseball events outside of normal season Drillers play.

[Renaissance]

Jay Cronley is not smart.

[TURobY]

Doesn't he pretty much complain about... everything?

[Hoss]

Yup.  And from what I understand, the mothership (read that as the Rockies organization) signed off on the alignment.  That tidbit of info comes directly from the Driller team president

[sgrizzle]

Jay Cronley is just a complainer. This is NOT the only field facing this way, the field is below ground, and there are plenty of buildings around the field. He acts like there is going to be some sort of constant 100mph headwind aimed at the batter.

[stymied]

For those that missed it, Tulsa World published an article by Jay Cronley - "Ill Wind Blows Into Ballpark"http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20090327_206_A11_Accord426983

This article seems to address some long standing concerns many had since the first conceptual drawings were released and the orientation of the field displayed. 

This city's new downtown baseball park will not conform to tradition when it comes to alignment.

It appears that the line from home plate through the mound and over second base will run into the southeast; which is to suggest that when the south wind is howling, a left-handed batter couldn't hit a homer near the line in right using an aluminum bat against an aged pitcher.

To compensate for any possible week- or monthlong southerly gale, somebody said the right-field line would be only about 307 feet.

Three hundred and seven feet, home to the wall — that's a short field, a very short field.

Aren't coach-pitch fences around 310 down the lines?

In a raging southerly flow, games will be scored in the 2-1 vicinity and will last an hour and a half; in a calm setting, it's apt to be 11-10 in the bottom of the fourth.

But talk about fan-friendly. Be sure to take a glove to the games. Given the customary south winds, there should be, oh, 65 or 70 souvenir pop foul balls available for snagging per game.

I'm hoping this doesn't become a $39.2 million flub as a result of these concerns.  I recall many in here and on the Tulsa World voiced concerns about these issues before construction started yet our local leaders chose to push ahead with all due haste.  I'm wondering if the ballpark design and orientation was vetted by the league and deemed acceptable for its shorter baseline and direction?  Stymied, do you know?

I'd hate to see issues like these effect Bedlam or other major baseball events outside of normal season Drillers play.

It took all but about 24 hours for the Rockies organization to sign off on this.  It is not a big deal.  As mentioned this is not the only ballpark with this orientation.  It is not the most common or preferred, but is acceptable and workable.  The issue is not the prevailing summer winds, but the orientation of the sun to the players and their safety.  There are ballparks all around the country that have a NE orientation that have their own wind issues to contend with especially in the great lakes and north east part of the country.  If Lamson and the Rockies had not approved this orientation, and were worried about south winds, the park would be under consruction on the other site right now.

[DowntownNow]

Stymied, if you're talking about the "other site" being the East Village site originally proposed, I thought there were a variety of reasons it couldn't happen there: parties couldn't come to terms, desires for surrounding redevelopment, etc?

[AVERAGE JOE]

The field orientation been discussed over and over and over and over and over and....

Home plate through the pitcher's mound just needs to face easterly, whether that's northeast, southeast or due east. Northeast is the most common, but several ballparks in the major leagues have a southeastern orientation, including Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and the Texas Rangers (who built theirs in a parking lot and could've faced it any direction they wanted).

If anything, it'll be nice to have a breeze blowing in from right field and cooling off the fans along the third base line when it's 90+ degrees outside. If a left handed batter at the Double A level can't hit a home run into the wind with a short porch in right (307 feet), then he needs to consider driving a beer truck for a living. Maybe Marshall's will be hiring.

[sgrizzle]

Stymied, if you're talking about the "other site" being the East Village site originally proposed, I thought there were a variety of reasons it couldn't happen there: parties couldn't come to terms, desires for surrounding redevelopment, etc?

There were plenty of rumors, not a lot of facts. There was a legal dispute over one parcel that was delaying it, but they ended up liking greenwood better anyway.

[stymied]

There were plenty of rumors, not a lot of facts. There was a legal dispute over one parcel that was delaying it, but they ended up liking greenwood better anyway.

The Greenwood site was determined to be several years ahead of the curve in terms of surrounding development, the entitlements weren't as tricky, it was cheaper, the construction was going to be about $2 million cheaper due to some massive PSO underground lines, and the consruction schedule on the other site could not be completed by 2010 opening day.  I still think they always had a plan to make either site work, and in the end gave they compromised best overall orientation for all the advantages mentioned above.  It was an easy decision in the end.

[cannon_fodder]

Southeast facing ballparks:

Majors:

Cincinnati Reds
Pittsburgh Pirates
Milwaukee Brewers
Chicago White Sox
Detroit Tigers
Texas Rangers

Minors (mostly AAA):

Dunn Tire Park‎  (Buffalo)
PGE Park‎ (Portland)
Nashville Sounds Baseball Club‎
Harbor Park‎ (Norfolk, VA)
Security Service Field‎ (Colorado Springs)
Franklin Covey Field‎ (Salt Lake City)
The Diamond‎   (Richmond)
Chukchansi Park‎ (Fresno)
Commerce Bank Park‎ (Bridgewater, NJ)
Trenton Thunder‎ (NJ)
Birmingham Rickwood Field‎ (AL)
San Antonio Missions Baseball‎
Ct Defenders‎ (Norwich, Conn. - almost due south)

University of Washington's baseball stadium (happen to know that one)



There, that's the 10 minutes I can devote to this search.  Google Maps, "baseball stadium" and start clicking.  There are more than a couple facing SE and nearly all of them are larger than Tulsa's new endeavor.  The sun, not the wind, is the real problem - but the people above seemed to do OK with it. 

I have no comment on prevailing wind conditions at the above sites.  Anyone who wants to nitpick the wind/orientation on these ballparks needs to do so on all the others to see if it is the dominate factor.

And just for fun, the Twins new ballpark is being orientated East-North-East as "desired."  People there are pissed because it *could* be orientated on the same site to give a great outfield view of downtown:
http://www.twinsballpark2010.com/SkyLine.html

[rwarn17588]

The key part of the passage from the rulebook:

"It is desirable that the line from home base through the pitcher's plate to second base shall run east-northeast."

It is desirable. It is not required.

The nice things about ballparks around the country are their quirks. If a ballpark, such as old Yankee Stadium, has a really long dead zone for right-handed batters, you'd better stock up on left-handed hitters. Kansas City teams must have speedy outfielders because of the deep outfield and speedy turf. Wrigley Field in Chicago often is regarded as a hitter's paradise -- until the wind comes out of the north. Breaking-ball pitchers don't do well in Denver because of the thinner air.

Ballparks have quirks. Most ballplayers know these quirks. You have to adjust. Baseball is all about adjusting in order to be successful. End of story.

[waterboy]

I don't think teams are going to load up on lefties just cause they play on a short field in Tulsa. Still, 310 ft is not very long. I could hit that far. Should make for some good crowds outside the right field fence. How deep is the current field?

[Hoss]

I don't think teams are going to load up on lefties just cause they play on a short field in Tulsa. Still, 310 ft is not very long. I could hit that far. Should make for some good crowds outside the right field fence. How deep is the current field?

dimensions
LF: 335
CF: 390
RF: 340

[Hoss]

Doesn't he pretty much complain about... everything?

Now that I reread your post, doesn't that also sound like the OP?