# Baseball infield design.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-infield-design/424405>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 29, 2007, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-infield-design/424405 "2007-10-29T03:11:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\
**Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-infield-design/424405/1 "2007-10-29T03:11:16Z")

</div>

Some infields have a dirt strip between home and the mound like [Chase Field.](http://www.mlbroadtrip.com/images/photos/april/week2/bankonewhole.jpg) Does this strip have a name or a purpose?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\
**Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-infield-design/424405/2 "2007-10-29T04:33:06Z")

</div>

Not sure if it has a proper name, but its a reference to a feature of “old-timey” ballparks, reintroduced in the era of “throwback” ballpark design. [Here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:West_Side_Grounds_Action_2.jpg) is a picture of the Chicago’s West Side Grounds in 1908 featuring a very wide strip (and lots of dirt in foul territory as well…)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\
**Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-infield-design/424405/3 "2007-10-29T05:00:22Z")

</div>

Grass is a lot more expensive to maintain than dirt. I think the perception (true or not, I dunno) is that in the old days, ballparks didn’t bother to maintain the grass in places where it was doomed to keep getting worn down, like the strip the catcher walks across every time he goes out to confer with the pitcher. You’ll notice a lot of these “throwback” designs also have dirt paths from the dugouts to the home plate cutout as well (see [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Shea_stadium.jpg) for what I mean, not necessarily an example of a “throwback” design).

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Intelligently\_Designed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intelligently_designed/32/20957_2.png) [@Intelligently\_Designed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intelligently_Designed)\
**Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-infield-design/424405/4 "2007-10-29T16:21:44Z")

</div>

The Christian Science Monitor article cited in the second post of [this thread](http://www.baseball-fever.com/showthread.php?t=11494) provides a lot of information on this matter. The link in the post doesn’t work, but I’ve made sure through another channel that it’s really from the CSM.