For Steve: Historical Ballpark Altitudes

[KG Erwin]

I noticed that Pittsburgh's Forbes Field shows an elevation of 1223 feet. This is incorrect, from the info I've found. It should be 745 feet.

I'm taking my info from here: http://www.baseball-statistics.com/Ball ... lassic.htm

This altitude coincides with the data I found in one of the ballpark collections from Padres Fan's site.

Since altitudes have an effect on how well the ball carries, this needs to be adjusted. There are other inconsistencies for historical parks, such as Boston's Fenway and Braves Field shown as 141 feet. The actual altitude should be 21.

[BullDurham]

Then according to this source, it must be sinking:

http://pittsburgh.about.com/cs/aboutpit ... /facts.htm


P.S. KG, I used new sources when I redid parks. DId not coyp from old park files. Just a heads up.

[KG Erwin]

This gets to be confusing, as Pittsburgh's elevation levels range from 700 to 1300 feet. PNC Park's elevation is listed as 730 feet. Was Forbes Field really 500 feet higher? It would ordinarily be meaningless, but altitude DOES have an effect on PS stats numbers. For now, I'll accept 745 feet. For all that, it's still an odd fact that of the 14 parks of the 30s-40s, Pittsburgh's is the highest above sea level.

[PadresFan104]

I went to college on the grounds where Forbes Field once stood, in Oakland. Is is definitely "uphill" from downtown Pittsburgh, where PNC Park resides, right across the river.

Anyhoo, I loaded up Google Earth to see what it had to say:

PNC Park: Elevation - 725 feet
Location where Forbes Field Stood: Forbes Quad - 900 feet

There you go!

[KG Erwin]

Thank you, Al. Look, in my area of West Virginia, those sorts of elevation differentials are not uncommon. Ok, I will accept 900, as 1223 still seems too extreme. Thanks.

[KG Erwin]

I'm still having some issues with the "classic" ballpark dimensions. For example, Sportsman's Park in 1946, which was used by both the Cardinals and the Browns, shows different dimensions for each team. Yankee Stadium shows an altitude of "0". I believe that it should be 55 feet.

Crash Davis, do you have the database for the ballparks available somewhere? I believe it needs some tweaking.

BTW, I'm also getting ballpark info from here: http://www.andrewclem.com/Baseball.php

To put this in perspective, it's been determined that a baseball hit at Coors Field will travel 8-9% further than a baseball hit at sea level. Over the course of a season, that amounts to a few extra-base hits/HRs.