Why Orioles' Camden Yards may see fewer home runs this year
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The Orioles are altering Camden Yards' playing dimensions ahead of the 2022 season in an effort to reduce the park's propensity for home runs.
Details: The left field wall will be pushed back "as much as 30 feet" and raised approximately five feet, per the team. Last year's dimensions were 333 feet to left and 364 to left-center. The fence was seven feet high.
"While Oriole Park will remain a hitter's ballpark, it will no longer be an outlier."— Orioles email to fans
By the numbers: 72 more homers have been hit at Camden Yards than any other ballpark over the past three seasons, a difference larger than the gap between second and 13th place, per the Baltimore Sun.
Fun fact: Camden Yards is responsible for two of the top five seasons in MLB history in terms of home runs hit at a single ballpark:
- 1999 Coors Field: 303
- 2019 Camden Yards: 289
- 2019 Minute Maid Park: 282
- 2021 Camden Yards: 277
- 2004 U.S. Cellular Field: 277
Between the lines: Those astronomical numbers are partly due to the O's atrocious pitching and overall lack of talent in recent years. But their iconic ballpark being a hitter's haven certainly hasn't helped.
The big picture: Camden Yards, which turns 30 next season, has seen 5,911 home runs since opening in 1992. That's the most of any ballpark in that time, with nine having been open the entirety of that span.
Go deeper: The evolution of MLB ballparks (Axios)
