Home-field advantages

Sporting News, The, May 26, 2003 by Todd Jones

Mounds in the big leagues are 60 feet, 6 inches from home plate. Bases are 90 feet apart. While the dimensions are the same, a lot of bailparks don't play the same, and I'm not talking about the altitude in Coors or the wind in Wrigley or the heat in Florida.

Each ballpark has things in it that help the home team. Everybody knows that when Ryne Sandberg played in Chicago, the grass was much higher so he could get to more balls. Craig Biggio always wanted the dirt in front of home plate in fire old Astrodome to be hard as a rock so the ball would bounce higher and he and the Astros could use their team speed to help them win games. Craig figured the Dome was enough of a pitchers park that the hitters were entitled to at least some assistance.

Any edge you can get is fair, I guess.

Mounds are different, too. I've heard that in Houston, in the days of J.R. Richard, Mike Scott and Nolan Ryan, the mounds would be higher--at least 3 inches sometimes. You needed cables to get up there. Those big guys would stand on the mound and throw those fastballs you couldn't see, and their sliders would have extra tilt.

If you're a dominant enough player, you can talk to the head grounds guy, and he'll take care of you. In Philly now, it's the same way. That mound is high, but they go even one better. They make the mounds in the visiting bullpen a little flat. You warm up on one mound, but when you go out there, it takes time to adjust, and that's just about when Jim Thome or Bobby Abreu steps up.

There are regulations for the mounds, and for the most part, the mounds are uniform. There are few that are bad, like San Diego. It's just dry.

Clay makes the best mounds. They hold up during the course of the game. You can have three different pitchers on each team throw in a game, and when you get out there, you can't even tell there have been guys on the mound. For this, Toronto has the best mound. It's awesome. The seats are dose, you feel like you're right on top of the hitter, and it's got a great slope.

How about batter's boxes? Again, day plays a big part in the box. They all look the same, but some guys dig in more than others. It seems like you wouldn't want big holes where guys stand. Some guys dig in just to try to intimidate the pitcher, but most of the time, the hitters have to feel comfortable, and they won't start the at-bat till they get their feet set.

As a pitcher at Coors, I'd like to see the grass so high the Marines could do jungle maneuvers during the game and not be detected. We're 5,280 feet up, for crying out loud. Heck, unplug the humidor and let the grass grow. You won't hear any complaints from us ... or Ryne Sandberg.

E-mail Todd Jones, a reliever for the Rockies, at tjones@sportingnews.com.

Good, for him

For most players, hitting 30-plus homers with 100-plus RBIs in consecutive seasons would be grounds for high praise and great admiration.

Blue Jays first basemen Carlos Delgado is not one of those players. He combined for 72 homers and 210 RBIs the past two seasons, but there was much more talk of him being overrated and overpaid than overpowering. That figures to happen when expectations are measured against a season such as the one Delgado enjoyed in 2000, when he was voted by fellow players as the SPORTING NEWS' Player of the Year for hitting .344 with 41 homers and 137 RBIs.

"I would be happy if every year was like 2000, but that's not realistic," Delgado says. "After a while, you want to say, 'Give me a break.' That kind of year Isn't going to happen all the time."

Perhaps it can happen every few years, though. This is looking like one of them. Delgado began the week among the top five in the A.L. in several key stats, including RBIs, homers end on-base percentage. His batting average, which slipped below .280 in 2001 and '02, still was at .311 even after a recent skid.

So what happened to lift Delgado, 30, back to elite status? Three things:

* He picked up where he left off in September, when he hit .363 with 10 homers in the last month of last season.

* He changed his batting stance slightly. By standing more erect, he is able to stay back on the ball a little more, and that helps him get around on fastballs better. Staying back also allows him to more effectively get his upper body into his swing. Considering he's 6-3 and weighs 225, making the most of his size is not a bad idea. The result has been more hits driven to left and left center for the lefthanded slugger.

* He had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in the offseason. A healthier knee means he is able to put a little more weight on his leg, which is a key for staying back in his stance. Delgado also was bothered by lower back pain last year, which landed him on the disabled list for just the second time in his 10-year career, and he missed a few games with a neck problem. Delgado, however, stresses that his ailments had nothing to do any struggles he had last year. He always has been that kind of stand-up guy, as well as polite to a fault.

Back when he was named TSN Player of the Year, he became the first (and likely only) major leaguer to address the editor who informed him as, "Mister."