Maybe It's Time To Stop Complaining About The Pitch Size

[bigapplepie]

NYCFC - 110x 70
West Ham - 110 x 70
QPR - 112 x 72

West Ham and QPR always used to be known for their flair and passing football throughout the years from the days of Bobby Moore, through the era of of Trevor Brooking, Frank Lampard and subsequently his son Frank Lampard Jr. That's one reason the fams were so dismayed when Sam "long ball" Allardyce was appointed.

QPR in turn played beautiful football back in the days of Rodney Marsh and Stan Bowles.

All of which proves that high quality, passing football can be played on any pitch.

 

[AJS]

NYCFC - 110x 70
West Ham - 110 x 70
QPR - 112 x 72

West Ham and QPR always used to be known for their flair and passing football throughout the years from the days of Bobby Moore, through the era of of Trevor Brooking, Frank Lampard and subsequently his son Frank Lampard Jr. That's one reason the fams were so dismayed when Sam "long ball" Allardyce was appointed.

QPR in turn played beautiful football back in the days of Rodney Marsh and Stan Bowles.

All of which proves that high quality, passing football can be played on any pitch.

I agree. The problem with our pitch is the number of players who slip during the match on the grass laid over the infield, not the size of it.

 

[Fantazma]

NYCFC - 110x 70
West Ham - 110 x 70
QPR - 112 x 72

West Ham and QPR always used to be known for their flair and passing football throughout the years from the days of Bobby Moore, through the era of of Trevor Brooking, Frank Lampard and subsequently his son Frank Lampard Jr. That's one reason the fams were so dismayed when Sam "long ball" Allardyce was appointed.

QPR in turn played beautiful football back in the days of Rodney Marsh and Stan Bowles.

All of which proves that high quality, passing football can be played on any pitch.

its not that, i think its mostly due to many believing that its actually not 110X 70 but less like 108 X 68 or something. that and the fact its a base ball field is why people complain.

 

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

The complaints stem also from the realisation that it could be better.

Pitches that are laid out on other baseball fields typically have a corner at or near home plate, so the width is much closer to what's usual.


Busch Stadium

Dodger Stadium

Fenway Park

But NYCFC cannot do that because the Yankees refuse to allow the pitcher's mound to be removed and replaced.

We have the width situation only because of the Yankees' intransigence. I think it is annoyance at this which drives a lot of the complaints.

 

[Mikeylito]

Any possibility the typical north-south orientation plays into this?

 

[LionNYC]

Originally they were going to remove the pitchers mound, then they changed their minds.

 

[SFphoto]

It's funny because 3/4 of our field has some of the best grass in the league.

 

[Gene]

With two home games left the field held up well.

Guess Teixeira can stop worrying. Oh, wait.......

 

[mgarbowski]

It's funny because 3/4 of our field has some of the best grass in the league.

 

[bigapplepie]

Lampard played on that tiny pitch at West Ham for the first 6 years of his career, so if anyone knows how to cope it's him. If they took the padding away from the bullpen you could probably extend the width of the pitch by 3 or 4 yards.

 

[dannd23]

Tiny pitch=Less running for our old fogies. A field designed so the Maestro can play until he is a citizen and is an AARP member!

 

[northernburbs]

Originally they were going to remove the pitchers mound, then they changed their minds.

it all has to do with not wanting to move the mound. As a pitcher in my younger days i totally see the yankees not wanting to dismantle the mound

 

[Davo15]

A little rich if anyone from TFC were complaining about it stifling them when it sure didn't in the 4-4

 

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

it all has to do with not wanting to move the mound. As a pitcher in my younger days i totally see the yankees not wanting to dismantle the mound

Is "dismantle" the right word? Couldn't they arrange it so that the mound can be removed and replaced as a unit?

In any case, when the Jets played at Shea Stadium, the mound was removed for their games, as the gridiron ran from home plate straight up through centre field.

This didn't seem to bother Seaver and the boys on the great Met pitching staffs. Former Shea head groundskeeper Pete Flynn said (admittedly, in a somewhat self-serving fashion) that "They always liked the mound...[Tom] Seaver, and [Jerry] Koosman, and those guys. They always said we had the best mound in the National League."

Surely whatever technique was used at Shea in the 1970s could be used today at Yankee Stadium.

 

[northernburbs]

Is "dismantle" the right word? Couldn't they arrange it so that the mound can be removed and replaced as a unit?

In any case, when the Jets played at Shea Stadium, the mound was removed for their games, as the gridiron ran from home plate straight up through centre field.

This didn't seem to bother Seaver and the boys on the great Met pitching staffs. Former Shea head groundskeeper Pete Flynn said (admittedly, in a somewhat self-serving fashion) that "They always liked the mound...[Tom] Seaver, and [Jerry] Koosman, and those guys. They always said we had the best mound in the National League."

Surely whatever technique was used at Shea in the 1970s could be used today at Yankee Stadium.

Your right, maybe "dismantle" is the wrong word. Why don't you come up with some gas bag novel to replace the word.
And please don't try to drag the City, Nation or any Ballpark back into the 1970s

 

[WestSideGuy]

Regardless of the size of the pitch and the slipping on the infield, we are the only team to play 17 games on that pitch. We should figure out how to use it to our advantage and exploit our opponents' lack of familiarity with its "challenges". We shouldn't be slipping on the infield turf as much as our opponents because we should be more aware of and sensetive to the issue.

 

[Seth]

Is "dismantle" the right word? Couldn't they arrange it so that the mound can be removed and replaced as a unit?

In any case, when the Jets played at Shea Stadium, the mound was removed for their games, as the gridiron ran from home plate straight up through centre field.

This didn't seem to bother Seaver and the boys on the great Met pitching staffs. Former Shea head groundskeeper Pete Flynn said (admittedly, in a somewhat self-serving fashion) that "They always liked the mound...[Tom] Seaver, and [Jerry] Koosman, and those guys. They always said we had the best mound in the National League."

Surely whatever technique was used at Shea in the 1970s could be used today at Yankee Stadium.

The problem with this is that at Yankee Stadium you're stuck with the odd shape of the field because of the short right porch. Shea didn't have that problem because the field-level stands were on rails and moved to reconfigure for football games. If you look at the photo in your post you can clearly see that the stands are parallel and cover the outfield corners. The stadium was designed that way and worked pretty well. Mostly. It did tend to rip up the grass by the end of the baseball season.

"Honey, I'll be back in a couple of hours. I'm taking the stands for a drive."

 

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

[You're] right, maybe "dismantle" is the wrong word. Why don't you come up with some gas bag novel to replace the word.

And please don't try to drag the City, Nation or any Ballpark back into the 1970s

What does any of this mean?

I simply suggested that, instead of the mound being "dismantled", perhaps it could be "moved" as a unit. (If I ever write a gas bag novel, I'll be sure to stuff it full of complex words such as that.)

And if there was a way of removing and replacing the mound that pleased Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman, then I would happily "drag" Yankee Stadium back to whatever they were doing at Shea Stadium in the 1970s.

The problem with this is that at Yankee Stadium you're stuck with the odd shape of the field because of the short right porch. Shea didn't have that problem because the field-level stands were on rails and moved to reconfigure for football games. If you look at the photo in your post you can clearly see that the stands are parallel and cover the outfield corners. The stadium was designed that way and worked pretty well. Mostly. It did tend to rip up the grass by the end of the baseball season.

"Honey, I'll be back in a couple of hours. I'm taking the stands for a drive."

I showed the Shea picture only to illustrate a ballpark whose mound was regularly removed, so as to counter the Yankees' objection to doing that.

I wasn't saying that the soccer pitch at Yankee Stadium should be laid out home plate to centre field. However, it sure could be laid out along the third-base line.

And Shea's retractable seats, while a technological marvel of the day, did indeed mash up the grass. It was there (and not at the mound) that the problems with the park's hosting of both baseball and football manifested.

 

[Seth]

What does any of this mean?

I simply suggested that, instead of the mound being "dismantled", perhaps it could be "moved" as a unit. (If i ever write a gas bag novel, I'll be sure to stuff it full of complex words such as that.)

And if there was a way of removing and replacing the mound that pleased Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman, then I would happily "drag" Yankee Stadium back to whatever they were doing at Shea Stadium in the 1970s.




I showed the Shea picture only to illustrate a ballpark whose mound was regularly removed, so as to counter the Yankees' objection to doing that.

I wasn't saying that the soccer pitch at Yankee Stadium should be laid out home plate to centre field. However, it sure could be laid out along the third-base line.

And Shea's retractable seats, while a technological marvel of the day, did indeed mash up the grass. It was there (and not at the mound) that the problems with the park's hosting of both baseball and football manifested.

Don't today's dual-use stadiums have hydraulic mounds anyway? Press a button and the mound "deflates" to a flattened position, another button and it "inflates" again. Tidy it up after each button push and you're in business.

 

[RockShrimp]

Let's go Blue Jays.

With two home games left the field held up well.

Guess Teixeira can stop worrying. Oh, wait.......