I have heard that they make the visitor's bullpen mounds a different hight than the one on the field to mess them up, tilt the lines if a good bunting team is in town, and moisten the dirt in between 1st and 2nd for stealing teams. But what other tricks do the do?
2007-07-16 07:16:28 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Sports ➔ Baseball
I've heard that when Maury Wills was in his prime when the Dodgers were on the road the ground by first base was practically a mudhole. Also at Dodger Stadium the pitchers mound was always claimed to be higher than regulation to give Koufax and Drysdale an edge. I've also heard that the mound in visiting team bullpens is sometimes a different height or slope than the one on the field and it might take the reliever a few pitches to adjust and those pitches might be all the home team needs to get a key hit.
2007-07-16 08:47:28 · answer #1 · answered by ligoneskiing 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Some teams with dome stadiums have been accused of turning up and blowing the air conditioning air in from centerfield when the other team is up to cut down long fly balls. Some let the infield grass grow a little longer to slow down ground balls in the infield and help their speedy runners. However, the very best one I ever heard involves the Iowa Hawkeyes football team. The coach had the visitors dressing area, including bathrooms and showers painted pink. He feels it is difficult for the visiting coach to get his team pumped up with nothing but girlie pink. You can actually go on-line and order a pink Iowa shirt that says "Go Hawkeyes".
2007-07-16 14:22:32 · answer #2 · answered by Frizzer 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I've heard for small ball clubs they'll let the grass grow a little longer right infront of home plate to slow the bunts down. Yankee stadiums foul lines are right off the grass so that deterrs a lot of bunters too. Personally I'd put quick dry cement in Jose Reyes' box right before he came to bat!
2007-07-16 14:21:25 · answer #3 · answered by koolbeans84 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I heard they have longer grass on the infield for fast teams so they can bunt for base hits easier. clean the basepaths after the away team bats so the infield dirt they run on is smoother and can have more ditches for when the away team bats.
2007-07-16 14:24:24 · answer #4 · answered by wiz and skinz fan 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, I'm not sure about that but I know for sure that in Yankee Stadium, they do the YMCA while maintaining the infield dirt.
2007-07-16 14:23:56 · answer #5 · answered by J Boogie 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋