Photo Tour of the New Left Field at Oriole Park at Camden Yards

Today, the Baltimore Orioles showed off its new left field wall at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in advance of Monday’s home opener. The project was done to curb being an “an extreme park for home runs,” according to Orioles Executive Vice President and General Manager Mike Elias.

The left field foul pole remains in place at 333 ft. However, with the new alignment, the fence angles out past the foul pole expanding the field dimensions and forming a box in left field where the warning track hits the bullpens in left-center field. The wall was pushed back 26.5 ft. into the seating area. It was also raised from 7 ft. 4 in. to an even 13 ft. The new left field corner is 384 ft. from home plate and the left-center corner is 398 ft. from home plate.

“It is being done with the goal in mind of bringing the playing conditions at our stadium more towards the league norm,” said Elias in an Orioles.com video in January. “This has been, since its inception in 1992, an extreme park for home runs. We are very hopeful about what the effects will be towards brining this park towards neutrality. It’s still going to remain very much a hitter’s park is our expectation. And even a hitter’s park in particular for right-handed batters.”

He added, “The conditions here have been very extreme, towards the very most extreme, in the league. It’s not a secret, it’s been the case for decades. And part of having a winning program is the ability the recruit free agent pitchers. And that has been a historical challenge for this franchise.”

“This is an extreme home run park, if not the most, the second most,” said Assistant General Manager and Vice President of Analytics Sig Mejdal in the Orioles.com video. “And for right-handed batters it seems clear this is the most extreme home run park. And as Mike said, that doesn’t do this team any favors. We wanted to take this significant step toward neutrality.”

About the Author: Kevin Lynch

Founder and Publisher of SouthBmore.com, longtime resident of South Baltimore, and a graduate of Towson University. Diehard Ravens and O's fan, father of three, amateur pizza chef, skateboarder, and "bar food" foodie. Email me at Kevin@InceptMM.com and follow me on Twitter at @SoBoKevin.