I attended a game at Wrigley Field in Chicago last evening. While I enjoyed watching the game, a question came to mind which I have raised several times before with friends and fans near whom I have been sitting, but I have never received a coherent response.
I have aften wondered what the little circles are that are near home plate on both the first-base and third base line. THEY ARE NOT THE ON-DECK CIRCLE. At Wrigley, the on-deck circles are much farther from the field of play back near the wall–very near the dugout. The circles about which I am inquiring are probably five feet away from the edge of the grass near home plate on each base line. They are also probably about three feet off of the each base line and about three feet in diameter. The circles are cut into the grass and filled with the same stone as the rest of the infield.
Can anyone tell me their purpose? Do they exist at other parks? Is it a National League thing? I don’t recall seeing them at other stadiums, but they may be there as well.
Finally, replies that make sense. Thanks for the help. A quick search on yahoo came up with the same answer. If only I had known the term “fungo,” I’d have figured this out years ago.
Some day, db, see if you can try to hit with a fungo bat. Not easy. They’re flat on one side. Those coaches who stand there and hit balls exactly where they want to hit them are artists with those things. Mmmmmm and that’s the kind of stuff that makes going to Wrigley - or any park - really fun. The inside stuff of baseball.
Just a nitpick - a standard fungo bat is not flat on one side. They are made in the same shape as a standard bat, but about half the diameter. This reduces the weight of the bat substantially and allows the coach to hit fielding practice for longer periods without tiring.
I’m not saying there are no flat sided fungo bats, heaven knows somebody has probably tried it*, but if you go a Google image search on “fungo bat” you’ll not likely find any.
*I saw a youth baseball coach one time with a fungo made like a tennis racquet. It was specially strung to hit baseballs. He could consistently hit long fly balls to deep center with almost no effort.
BTW, the reason for the fungo circles is to prevent the coaches from creating ugly worn brown patches on the grass when they hit fungo. A grassless circle looks better.
