Todd (or any Baseball gurus)... MLB query...

[TUSK.sixpack]

what are the rules RE a MLB team changing the dimensions of their field?<div>
</div><div>Can you just do it willy nilly (within certain parameters) to accent your team's strengths? How often can you change it and how long before you can change it again?</div><div>
</div><div>and just for fun, I'm postin' my neato MSPaint of coach, again.</div><div>
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[RobbieRandolph]

because it was practically impossible to hit a HR there.

 

[Todd4State]

They may have to submit something to the commissioner's office, but I've never heard of an objection from the commissioner.

Teams change their outfield dimensions all the time in the offseason. I know the Cardinals have done it in the past at the old Busch Stadium II, the Mariners, and recently the Padres changed their outfield dimensions as well as the Mets. That's all off the top of my head without any research- but it's not uncommon.

As long as the mound is 60 feet and 6 inches from home plate and the bases are 90 feet apart, the outfield is arbitrary. Heck- they even let Houston have a hill in center field if that tells you anything.

 

[shotgunDawg]

This is an excert from the Bill Veeck Biography, and it is a great story in the history of Baseball. At one time there was no rule about changing the fences, but then marketing guru Bill Veeck came along in Cleveland and put in a right right wall with wheels. At that time the Baseball put in a rule that fences could not move during the season. Below is the passage:
<span id="Cleveland_Indians" class="mw-headline">
Cleveland Indians</span>

In 1946, Veeck finally became the owner of a major league team, the Cleveland Indians, using a debenture-common stock group making remuneration to his partners non-taxable loan payments instead of taxable income. In 1947, he paid $20,000 to the Newark Eagles for Larry Doby as the first African-American player in the American League. Unlike Branch Rickey, who knew that no Negro League team would stop a player from going into organized ball, Veeck bought players from the Negro Leagues. In 1948 he signed Satchel Paige, the oldest rookie in major league history; there was much speculation at the time about Paige's true age, with estimates from just under 40 to nearly 50.</p>

When the Indians moved to cavernous Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Bill Veeck had a movable fence installed in the outfield that moved as much as 15 feet between series, depending on how the distance helped or hurt the Indians against a particular opponent. The American League passed a new rule fixing the outfield fences during any given season.</p>

Veeck hired rubber-faced Max Patkin, the "Clown Prince of Baseball" as a coach. Patkin's appearance in the coaching box was the sort of promotional stunt by Bill Veeck that delighted fans and infuriated the front office of the American League.</p>

Although he had become extremely popular, an attempt to trade Lou Boudreau to the Browns led to mass protests and petitions supporting Boudreau. Veeck, in response, visited every bar in Cleveland apologizing for his mistake, and reassuring fans that the trade would not occur. By 1948, Cleveland won its first pennant and World Series since 1920. Famously, Veeck buried the 1948 flag, once it became obvious the team could not repeat its championship in 1949. That year, Veeck sold his shares in Cleveland in order to finalize an expensive divorce with his first wife.</p>

 

[boomboommsu]

the rulebook says 250' minimum, with 320' "preferrable", but Note (a) says any stadium built after 1958 must be 325', and no existing filed to be remodeled below 325'.

and yes, Selig ignores this rule.

 

[Rutherford B Hays]

Fabulous book.<div>
</div><div>Regarding the right field wall, Veeck use the "moveable fence" on top of the short right field wall. He rolled out the 20 foot high fence when the opponents came to bat and pulled the fence back when his team batted. He proved to the umps that there was no rule against it. The owners had a special meeting by phone that night to change the rule, but Veeck was happy that it worked for one game,</div>