Two Baseball Questions

[SanDiegoTim]

I was watching the White Sox/Athletics game last night. It was in Oakland. Couldn't help but notice unusual noise from the stands. There were horns of some type blaring when the Sox pitchers were preparing to throw and also what sounded like ringing bells. I've never heard or known noisemakers like these being permitted in ballparks. What gives?

Number two: What is the purpose of a pitchers' mound? It is simply to provide an advantage to the pitchers? Are the various dimensions of pitchers' mounds consistant from park to park?

[markdash]

Originally Posted by SanDiegoTim

I was watching the White Sox/Athletics game last night. It was in Oakland. Couldn't help but notice unusual noise from the stands. There were horns of some type blaring when the Sox pitchers were preparing to throw and also what sounded like ringing bells. I've never heard or known noisemakers like these being permitted in ballparks. What gives?

Ever heard of ThunderStix? What they have in Oakland (some assorted horns and drums) pales in comparison to the evil ThunderStix. They're also not nearly as bad as vuvuzelas.

Number two: What is the purpose of a pitchers' mound? It is simply to provide an advantage to the pitchers? Are the various dimensions of pitchers' mounds consistant from park to park?

I'm not qualified to say what the "purpose" is, but you're probably onto something. The lower the mound, the easier the hitter has it. Yes, there's a standard dimension for pitchers' mounds.

[RickJay]

Originally Posted by SanDiegoTim

I was watching the White Sox/Athletics game last night. It was in Oakland. Couldn't help but notice unusual noise from the stands. There were horns of some type blaring when the Sox pitchers were preparing to throw and also what sounded like ringing bells. I've never heard or known noisemakers like these being permitted in ballparks. What gives?

Number two: What is the purpose of a pitchers' mound? It is simply to provide an advantage to the pitchers? Are the various dimensions of pitchers' mounds consistant from park to park?

The pitcher's mound gives the pitcher a significant advantage by allowing the ball to be thrown a bit faster and on more of a downward angle. The standard height of a pitcher's mound in professional baseball is ten inches from the surface of the pitcher's plate (the white rectangle they pitch off of) to the level of the rest of the field.

[John DiFool]

There were some hijinks with the mound heights in the 60's (i.e. often higher than the aforementioned 10"), until MLB decided to start enforcing the rule in question.

[Jas09]

Originally Posted by John DiFool

There were some hijinks with the mound heights in the 60's (i.e. often higher than the aforementioned 10"), until MLB decided to start enforcing the rule in question.

And in fact prior to 1969 the rule was 15" (and, as you noted, some mounds were even higher).

Mounds were lowered explicitly to increase offense after a pitcher-dominated era.

[ZenBeam]

Originally Posted by SanDiegoTim

I was watching the White Sox/Athletics game last night. It was in Oakland. Couldn't help but notice unusual noise from the stands. There were horns of some type blaring when the Sox pitchers were preparing to throw and also what sounded like ringing bells. I've never heard or known noisemakers like these being permitted in ballparks. What gives?

I noticed this last year (year before?) when the Tigers were playing there. I didn't notice a pattern to it. They'd ring when the home team was batting. They'd ring when the visitors were batting. But they didn't ring all the time.

I hope this trend doesn't spread to the Tiger's Comerica park. It's one thing to hear it for a few away games, but to have to hear it every home game? That would suck. Same for Cleveland and their drum beater.

[Blkshp]

Originally Posted by Jas09

Mounds were lowered explicitly to increase offense after a pitcher-dominated era.

They also shrunk the strike zone by 40% because the owners wanted more hitting. It worked. From 1968 to 1969 overall MLB batting averages went up 11 points from .237 to .248, runs per game increased from 3.42 to 4.07 and, what the owners were really after -- Home Runs went from 1,995 to 3,119.

[Blkshp]

Originally Posted by ZenBeam

Same for Cleveland and their drum beater.

The drum is not so bad, he's way out in centerfield. The worst was a couple of years ago when the seats directly under the microphone behind home plate were occupied by a guy who clapped rapidly during every pitch. By mid-season the announcers were going nuts -- it was so annoying they were ragging the guy on the air. I don't know whether the team talked to the guy, or they moved his seats or whether somebody stepped on his hands, but he hasn't been heard from in awhile.

[Airman Doors, USAF]

Originally Posted by markdash

I'm not qualified to say what the "purpose" is, but you're probably onto something. The lower the mound, the easier the hitter has it. Yes, there's a standard dimension for pitchers' mounds.

10 inches is the maximum. Back in the old days the groundskeepers were left to their own devices, and some of them built mounds to truly frightening proportions for their power pitchers. Other managers taught their players to pitch from a relatively flat mound, taking that advantage away from visiting teams. It was just another level of gamesmanship that continues to this day, just like sanding the base paths and watering the infield. It may not be kosher but it still happens.

[kenobi 65]

Originally Posted by Blkshp

From 1968 to 1969 overall MLB batting averages went up 11 points from .237 to .248

Another illustration of this (and one of my favorite odd stats):

The 1968 AL batting champ was Carl Yastrzemski, who hit all of .301 (it was the year after he won the Triple Crown).

[Wheelz]

I've seen (and heard) air horns, cowbells, the aforementioned Evil Thunderstix, whistles, and all manner of musical instruments at ball games over the years. I don't think it's anything new, and I've never heard of a fan not being allowed to bring noisemakers into the park.

Could be a particular placement or sensitivity of a microphone or two that caused the OP to notice it more than usual at this particular game. Crowd noise can vary greatly from telecast to telecast depending on how they choose to mix it.

[Sternvogel]

Originally Posted by Blkshp

From 1968 to 1969 overall MLB batting averages went up 11 points from .237 to .248, runs per game increased from 3.42 to 4.07 and, what the owners were really after -- Home Runs went from 1,995 to 3,119.

Although the lowering of the mound helped, these increases were partly attributable to the fact that the majors expanded from 20 to 24 teams for the 1969 season. So not only were totals (such as home runs) augmented by the increased number of total games, but average offensive numbers were enhanced by the fact that one-sixth of the pitchers who were active in '69 wouldn't have found spots on big-league rosters the previous season.

(Yes, this proportional increase is also true of hitters, but expansion generally favors offense -- the fact that Roger Maris was able to hit 61 homers in '61 was partly attributable not only to the increase of the season length from 154 games to 162 to accommodate the addition of the Los Angeles Angels and the "new" Washington Senators, but the fact that those clubs' addition to the American League allowed a bunch of washed-up pitchers to stick around and a few rookies to be rushed to "the show" before they were ready.)

Incidentally, the reason for the longer season length was that when there had only been eight teams in each circuit, 154 worked out to a team playing each of its league rivals 22 times (11 home, 11 away). With 10 teams to contend with, the best way to maintain balance was to schedule each season series as 18 games. The 162-game norm has been maintained throughout subsequent rounds of expansion, even when today's schedules (especially since the introduction of regular-season interleague play) are of necessity unbalanced to the point where a team isn't even necessarily slated to play the same amount of games against each team in its own division.

[Winnowill]

Originally Posted by ZenBeam

Same for Cleveland and their drum beater.

Aww, John Adams is an institution!

I've been to games at the Oakland Coliseum, and the instruments do tend to be a real annoyance. Fortunately, I've never wound up sitting close to them - I can't imagine how irritating THAT would be. Especially if you were rooting for the visiting team. That said, I agree with everyone who condemns ThunderStix and vuvuzelas as the absolute worst.

[BobLibDem]

God help us if they ever have a Vuvuzela Day.

[Chessic Sense]

I remember seeing a game where both pitchers walked a combined 10 guys in one inning. Then the away pitcher called to the umpires and grounds crew to measure the mound. Turned out the landing area was sagging by, like, and inch. They added dirt and packed it down, and both pitchers went K-K-K-K all night long.

[Winnowill]

Originally Posted by BobLibDem

God help us if they ever have a Vuvuzela Day.

Somebody had one at a DBacks playoff game last year. He was sitting about three rows in front of me. It was all one would imagine it would be.