st louis cardinals And Chicago Cubs hitters will have to work a little harder to match the Yankees-Red Sox slugfests of 2019 when they play in London because the fences are being pushed back.
The center field wall will be 392 feet from home plate, seven feet deeper than four years ago, as part of the changes. major League Baseball Said that some of the seats in London Stadium came because of the reorganization and not because of the high scores in New York’s two wins over Boston.
Yankees and the Red Sox combined for 10 homers in two games played on artificial turf at home to Premier League club West Ham. New York won 17–13 and 12–8.
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General view of the pitch during the unveiling of the London Stadium in London on June 27, 2019. The baseball field being installed at the London Stadium will be slightly larger than the one in 2019. The St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs will play two games. The game at home to Premier League club West Ham next weekend. (AP Photo/Frank Augustine, File)
Among other changes, the power lanes are moving from five feet to 387 feet, the dugouts will be repositioned, and the foul area will be greatly reduced to make the whole thing feel more authentic.
“When you’re out at home plate, and you’re looking (out) it feels like you’re in a completely different ballpark than you were in 2019,” Murray Cook, MLB’s official on-field consultant, told The Associated Press.
Even with the increase, the middle field fence would be the shortest in the majors. The 16-foot wall is back in center field – Michael Chavis in the first inning. red Sox Barely cleared it in the first game. It slopes down eight feet on either side around the rest of the outfield.
The bottom of each row will be 330 feet – the same as last time – but seating adjustments will bring fans closer to the field.
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Fans watch a baseball game between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees on June 29, 2019 in London. The baseball field being installed at the London Stadium will be slightly larger than in 2019. The St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs will play two games at home to Premier League club West Ham next weekend. (AP Photo/Tim Ireland, File)
Cook said, “The pitches of the new dugout and new seating configuration are such that they will typically be down the foul line, whereas in 2019 they were a straight line behind home plate.”
The artificial turf is from Montreal – the 2019 turf was donated to the Farnham Park national baseball and softball complex outside London – and the clay is again from Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania.
“All these things that we implemented this year, we can use again,” Cook said.
MLB plans to stage games in London in 2024 and 2026 – with Paris being eyed as a host city in 2025. Cardinals and cubs were scheduled to play in London in 2020, but the games were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
London Stadium to be upgraded to LED lighting system in 2021. Previously, stadium lights were covered in chicken wire to protect them from flying baseballs.
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A general view of the London Stadium, home of West Ham United, as the pitch is transformed into a baseball field, Thursday, June 15, 2023. The baseball field being installed at the London Stadium will be slightly larger than the one in 2019. The St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs will play two games at home to Premier League club West Ham next weekend. (Lucy North/PA via AP)
“This year we only had to cover one panel with chicken wire, the rest have been covered with a special grid that (the stadium) came in to cover each fixture,” Cook said.
the venue was built for 2012 Olympics and was designed for minimal wind. It is often still called the Olympic Stadium. The capacity for West Ham games is 62,500.
The June 2019 Games attracted 118,718 visitors, mostly Americans, expatriates and Britons.