# Baseball in Denver **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 31, 2000, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-in-denver/21037 "2000-05-31T20:49:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PTVroman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bb73d2/32.png) [@PTVroman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PTVroman)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2000, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-in-denver/21037/1 "2000-05-31T20:49:28Z")
I live in Chicago. Last week, the Cubs were in Denver, and I’ve been hearing a lot about how the ball caries farther in the thin air of Coors park. Is there truely a noticeable difference in air density? How much further can the ball travel? So if Sammy hits a 400 foot HR in Chicago, that would be what in Denver? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Cynical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ee59a6/32.png) [@Mr.Cynical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Cynical)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2000, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-in-denver/21037/2 "2000-05-31T21:43:44Z")
According to the math I’ve heard, there is 13% less atomsphere in Denver than there is at sea level. I would want to make the assumption that this would mean that the ball travels 13% farther, but I wouldn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Odieman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a87d85/32.png) [@Odieman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odieman)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2000, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-in-denver/21037/3 "2000-05-31T22:06:11Z")
They always say when golf tournaments are played in the Denver area that the ball travels about 15% further due to the altitude. Bill James in one of his books on statistical analysis of baseball did a study that found , all other factors being equal (primarily park geometry), that there was a fairly direct corelation between altitude and home run production. Before Denver and Arizona joined the Majors the highest altitude city with major league baseball was Atlanta. I know that in the Texas League in the fifties that some of the higher altitude parks were larger than the lower altitude parks to compensate for the difference in ball travel. Keith ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2000, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-in-denver/21037/4 "2000-05-31T22:24:20Z")
Other altitude effects include: decreased break on curve balls, increased speed of ground balls hit by batters, and more bloop hits as the outfielders are forced to play deeper. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2000, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-in-denver/21037/5 "2000-06-01T04:20:08Z")
I have a copy of _The physics of Baseball_ by Robert K. Adair, Physicist to the National League (1987-1989). It was written before Denver entered the Big Leagues. > [@](#): > > p. 18 > Since the retarding force on the ball depends on the density of the air, the ball will travel farther in ball parks at high altitudes. A 400-foot home run at Yankee Stadium, near sea level, would translate to a 408-ft. drive at Atlanta at an altitude of 1,050 feet. The ball could be expected to go 5 feet farther at Wrigley Field in Chicago than at Yankee Stadium. If a major league franchise is someday granted to Denver (altitude 5,280 feet) consideration should be given to requiring a larger park or using a less lively ball. A 400-foot drive in New York would go as much as 40 feet farther through the thinner air in Denver. Furthermore, pitchers would find that their fast balls were half a foot quicker in Denver though their curves would not bite quite so well. Players for the American Association Denver Bears generally hit a lot of home runs at home and have commented on problems playing the outfield.; “fly falls come at you faster and sail farther than you might expect.” ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2000, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-in-denver/21037/6 "2000-06-01T05:00:09Z")
IIRC the longest professonal homerun was hit by a player for the colorado springs sky sox(minor league) before denver had a team. I think it was 620 feet or so. Could you imagine what McGuire could do if he played several seasons at coors field? ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2000, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-in-denver/21037/7 "2000-06-01T05:32:11Z")
I would be extremely skeptical that any human being could hit a pitched baseball 620 feet. Even in Denver, distances further than 500 feet are considered highly suspect. It’s quite possible that somebody hit a ball pretty far and it rolled out to a distance of 620 feet, but that’s not how home runs are measured. They are measured from home plate to where they first strike something on the ground (which includes roofs and light towers). It’s not like golf, the roll doesn’t count. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2000, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-in-denver/21037/8 "2000-06-01T05:39:24Z")
As stated, a big part of the hitting equation in Denver is that your breaking balls are much harder to move, with less air resistance at the stitches. ---
**Author:** ![DRY](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@DRY](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DRY)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2000, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-in-denver/21037/9 "2000-06-01T08:01:31Z")
You guys have already touched upon most of the factors: hit balls travel farther, ground balls get to, and by, infielders faster, break on curve balls is lessened. Also, as I understand it, fly balls, in addition to carrying farther, also tend to hit the ground faster. (Balls stay in the area for a shorter period of time.) This essentially means that the fielders have less time, and less effective range, to react to, and catch, balls on the fly. By the way, I hate Coors field not because I like low scoring games, but because it’s SO far out of line as compared to other major league parks. NO other stadium dramatically increases OR decreases run scoring anywhere near as much. There’s no easy answer as to how to normalize the park effects, either. Move the outfield walls back (to prevent “cheap” home runs), and you create a cavernous park–increasing singles, doubles, triples, inside the park home runs, especially as fielders will have to cover more ground, and have less effective time to field a hit ball. ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2000, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-in-denver/21037/10 "2000-06-01T09:57:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > IIRC the longest professonal homerun was hit by a player for the colorado springs sky sox(minor league) before denver had a team.\*\* Of course, Denver also had a team then, also minor league. Didn’t they play in Bears stadium? ---
**Author:** ![Necros](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/necros/32/11086_2.png) [@Necros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necros)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2000, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-in-denver/21037/11 "2000-06-01T16:49:53Z")
**RM Mentock** said: [QUOTE} Of course, Denver also had a team then, also minor league. Didn’t they play in Bears stadium? [/QUOTE] Yup. Denver had two minor league teams before we got MLB. The Denver Bears played in Bears Stadium, which was then transformed into Mile High Stadium. The Denver Zephyrs played there. ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2000, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-in-denver/21037/12 "2000-06-01T21:18:12Z")
Actually, the Bears also played in Mile High Stadium, when it was named Mile High Stadium. And the Bears club was bought in the mid-eighties by the Dikeou brothers, and renamed the Zephyrs. [http://www.totalbaseball.com/leagues/minors/denver.html](http://www.totalbaseball.com/leagues/minors/denver.html)