By Jim Moore

Should Safeco Field's fences be moved in?

Greg Johns, who covers the Mariners for MLB.com, gets that question all the time.

And last night, the topic came up again after Casper Wells launched a bases-loaded drive that died in Josh Hamilton's glove just in front of the left-center field wall. Later in the Mariners' 3-1 loss to Texas, Alex Liddi smacked one to center field that Hamilton tracked down as he ran into the wall.

On the postgame show on 710 ESPN Seattle, Matt Pitman pushed for the team to move the fences in, saying that in most any other park, the Mariners would have won last night's game 6-3 because of a grand slam by Wells and a solo shot by Liddi.

Before I continue, I need to be honest. The rest of this column is basically what I wrote in a Kitsap Sun column in January. But it still applies today. And I'm assuming you didn't read the original column, so I'm regurgitating that sucker today and essentially plagiarizing myself.

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Balls like the one Casper Wells hit to deep left-center field at Safeco would be home runs in most major-league ballparks. (AP)
Johns was surprised to find out that the Mariners regularly discuss this hot-button topic. They're not adamantly opposed to it. They've looked into it, using statistical analysis. They even told Johns they'd move the fences in if it would benefit the team.

Like Johns, I just assumed it was fodder for sports-talk radio. Apparently it's more than that, which is good to hear.

I'd like to see more home runs at Safeco Field. More home runs equals more fun at the ballpark. More fun equals more of a reason to go to the games. More wins and cheaper beers would be even bigger reasons to go to the games, but neither is likely this year.

It's a good thing the Mariners don't have me heading up their should-we-move-in-the-fences? committee. I would immediately ask if I could swing the first ceremonial sledge hammer at the old wall.

I would resist the urge to do something really radical like move the left-field wall in 30 feet and raise the height of the wall to 40 feet and call it the Blue Monster. (Any guesses on the height of the Green Monster at Fenway Park? I would have guessed 60 feet, but it's actually 37 feet, 2 inches.)

I'd tweak the dimensions like they did at Comerica Park in 2003 when the Tigers reduced left-center field from 395 feet to 370 feet. At the time, Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski called 370 "a pretty normal distance," noting that the ball doesn't carry well to left field in Detroit.

The Tigers did not move in the center-field and right-field fences, and Comerica Park is still considered to be pitcher-friendly with dead center still extending to 420 feet.

This year the Mets also made minor adjustments to Citi Field. The wall is being moved in in all of the outfield areas from 4 feet to 12 feet. The wall will also shrink from 16 feet to 8 feet high.

"We're targeting to try to fit in, to be more normal, or more on average with everybody," said Mets chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon.

That's what should be done at Safeco Field, too. Partly because of our thick marine air and partly because of the Mariners' lack of power, balls die in left-center field. Home runs elsewhere are warning-track shots at Safeco Field.

What would be so bad about leaving everything else alone but moving the left-center field wall from 385 feet to 370 feet?

Would Felix Hernandez and the rest of the Mariners' pitching staff be that upset? I suppose. But speaking as the president of the should-we-move-in-the-fences? committee, I would ask Felix if he's sick of losing 1-0 games? Whatever his answer is, I would tell him that I'm sick of watching them.

I love baseball, and I love a good pitchers' duel. But I don't want to watch them night after night. I also like to see guys cross home plate. And heck, give me a 12-10 slugfest once in awhile.

If you make a bad pitch to a power hitter, it should be a home run, not an out. I'd tell Felix that, too.

In the old Comerica Park, left-handers felt like they could challenge right-handed hitters in the strike zone, knowing that their mistakes wouldn't hurt them. Is there anything wrong with lefties needing to make better pitches in the new park to avoid longballs?

I would think not. The same holds true for Safeco Field.

Here's the other thing: Larry Stone of The Seattle Times advocates moving in the left-field wall because it will help attract free-agent, right-handed power hitters in the future.

If you're a right-handed slugger, would you want to play at Safeco Field with its heavy air and spacious dimensions? Adrian Beltre was a good hitter when he was here, but he's been a beast since while playing at Fenway Park and The Ballpark in Arlington.

When they built Safeco Field, I recall that the Mariners thought it would be possible to not only hit the ball over the left-field wall but out of the entire park. But it's never happened in a game -- and as far as I know -- not even in batting practice.

During the home-run derby at the 2001 All-Star Game, I was assigned to write a story for the Post-Intelligencer from Royal Brougham Way. Surely someone in the steroid era would knock one out of the park in the home-run derby.

Along with about 50 or so fans, I patrolled Royal Brougham Way for the better part of an hour and a half, foolishly waiting for a ball to head our way, but everyone went home empty-handed.

Again, you don't have to turn Safeco Field into a bandbox like the Kingdome, just something that more closely resembles an average major-league park.

The Go 2 Guy also writes for his website, www.jimmoorethego2guy.com, and the Kitsap Sun. You can reach him at jimmoorethego2guy@yahoo.com and follow him on Twitter @cougsgo. Jim appears weekday afternoons from 3 to 6 on "The Kevin Calabro Show." He also co-hosts "The Golf Show with Jim Moore and Shon Crewe" on the podcast page at 710Sports.com.

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Comments (13)


  • Add A Comment

  • BTBasics wrote...
    A basketball approach to baseball
    May 23, 2012 10:54 am
    Like the NBA where defense is a thing of the past, you want more scoring. I guess you are ignoring the obvious, that almost every other team in the MLB has more power than the Mariners. We'd see a lot more HRs alright, but probably not from our team. Frankly I thought that catch was amazing. Hated that it didn't go out but it was a thrilling grab.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • clevesside wrote...
    Tell that to
    May 23, 2012 11:02 am
    ..Armstrong and Lincoln, and see where it goes. Fans with ideas?! Ungratefuls!! To the MLB round file, or TBD projects. It would comform a lot to similar MLB parks but not here. Nice try anyway...
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Newton wrote...
    Just an Idea?.
    May 23, 2012 11:13 am
    How about a larger baseball for the mariners.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • soo purletiv wrote...
    Make the walls, like the roof!
    May 23, 2012 12:50 pm
    Make them retractable, based upon the power of the team the Mariners are playing, as well as the team the Mariners are fielding on any given day! ;-}

    Safeco field was a great park during the juiced era. Not so much today, though! ;-{

    I posted this before, but due to the topic, I thought it would be apropos. It is a sortable list of all the ballparks and how they compare to one another in terms of runs home runs, etc. Did i mention that it is sortable?:

    http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/parkfactor

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • lamlor wrote...
    Huh?
    May 23, 2012 1:29 pm
    Home field is suppose to play best for the home team so we want to bring in the fences for our team when we have a one of the worst power teams in baseball? I think I have that right. Here is a second option, bring in the talented offensive players. If you pay them, they will come. We currently have mediocre pitching because we dealt Bedard, Fister, and Pineda within a year and added one young hitter to the team. That is not how you get it done and no matter how far in you move the fences, talent will still win out day in and day out. By the way, as I am writing this Liddi just hit a grand slam to...LF. It can be done when you have a guy with a little power. Go figure.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Pilate wrote...
    Ty Cobb
    May 23, 2012 5:28 pm
    When he was a player/manager, he would move the fences in or back depending on who was in town, so there is a precedent. A very old precedent, but a precedent nonetheless.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Newton wrote...
    Lamlor. Where are you from?.
    May 23, 2012 3:53 pm
    Mariner's trade all thier talent away. At least 95% of it. So they can Suck next Year and ? the Year after that.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Pilate wrote...
    It's Not the Park
    May 23, 2012 5:48 pm
    It's the team. A good team plays well in any park. With good pitching and timely hitting, the M's swept the Tigers in Comerica this year, still the biggest park in the AL, I think.

    And Adrian Beltre was not a GOOD hitter when he was here. He hit .266 and had an OPS+ of 101, absolutely league AVERAGE. He also grounded into 78 DP's and had almost 500 SO's during that time. Considering he was playing a "power" position, and got paid $65M while he was here, in my opinion that makes him a bust.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • wcremedy24 wrote...
    Pilate
    May 23, 2012 8:03 pm
    He was arguably the best player in the NL the year before he came here then was an all star the year after. This isn't just about our guys either. Right handed free agents don't want to come here cause it's known as the park that kills hitters. Bring the fences in.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • lamlor wrote...
    Right Handed Free Agents...
    May 23, 2012 8:29 pm
    Do you know where Right Handed, or left handed for that matter, free agents want to go? To winning teams that pay competitive money. Considering we are not a winning team, nor do we pay competitive money, we have little to no chance of signings these hitters. Yes Safeco doesn't help, but if we had better hitters than our opponents then we should be winning more regardless of the distance of the fences. Until we are at least on par with our opponents, nothing else really matters.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • wcremedy24 wrote...
    lamlor
    May 24, 2012 12:35 am
    That's a fair point, but you can't just think for the present, this is a long-term thing.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • active_fan wrote...
    Steroid Era
    May 24, 2012 12:36 pm
    This park was designed during the Steroid era, add to that a statistacally bad team and here we are today...
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • abezx wrote...
    fence
    May 24, 2012 5:15 pm
    hellulujah, right on Jim! Although it's hard to agree with a coug, 100%agree here! It's been 10 years of offensive futility. We're building around montero and smoak and liddi and seager right, why not help them out. The people disagree says "well, the other team will hit HRs too", yeah but we play 81 games at safeco! Or they say "it will hurt our pitchers", well, as Jeff nelson said, pitchers pitches based on their strengths not based on the ballpark. In addition, it will be a huge relief for our pitchers if we score some runs on them, instead with what's been going on for years where they feel like they have pitch perfectly to win a game, and it hasnt worked! You want to attract a very good hitting free agents, right? why the heck they will go here if balls they'll hit will be held by the park. You think if we have sign pujols, fielder, are you confident they can hit homeruns? AND, do you want montero to leave? If safeco fence doesnt get moved, he'll leave as soon as he gets a chance. Smoak too, put him somewhere and we'll be talking MVP numbers. when was the last time while watching a game on tv or at safeco were you stopped what you're doing or dont want to go buy beer until one of slugger finishes his at bat coz you dont want to miss that he'll do something special with the ball? It's been a long time right? Junior and Alex. Dont you want to get that feeling back? 2001, you doubters asked? 2001 was the steroid era as Jim pointed out! anyways, headwind, cold air, safeco dimension will never work for our hitters, unless you want to be boring and small balling. Ms will start winning more if they move the fence. Just move it in strategically and not like bandbox as Jim said.
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  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }






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