Atlanta Braves’ Incredibly Shrinking Foul Territory

When John Coppolella is talking with free agent pitchers of interest this Fall and Winter, he’d better not show them exactly how much more advantage hitters will have in SunTrust Park starting next Spring.

The Atlanta Braves are soon to open a new stadium – and there’s one new difference that might… make a difference.

It is still fascinating – the rule book of baseball.

There are sections with meticulous details.  There are sections that are devoid of detail.

The infield is laid out with surveyors accuracy:  measurements to the inch for spacing between bases, size and position of the batter’s boxes, the running lane to first base, the pitching mound, the rubber, and the distance to home plate.

Yet with all that, there are two areas in which the MLB rule book is essentially silent:  distance to the outfield walls and the amount of available foul territory.

That fact has certainly led to a lot of creative freedom on the part of stadium architects through the years.

Their changing works have not escaped notice in Atlanta.