Construction and Lighting Standards for Baseball Fields

Baseball is a collective sport of intelligence and bravery, fun and collaboration.

Unlike other strength and competitive outdoor sports, on the baseball field, no matter how tall, short, fat or thin, as long as you find a suitable position and train, you can play to your strengths.

Due to the flexible position on the field and the complex situation, the overall cooperation and tacit understanding of the team are higher than the characteristics of other sports, so we will find that baseball players have more team spirit.

The sport of baseball is very popular all over the world. As long as there is a baseball game, it will definitely cause a crowded scene. So how are baseball fields built? What are the specific standards? This article will take you to find out.

1. Stadium Specifications

(1) Infield base bag

The activity of a baseball game starts at the home plate.

The exact distance between the bases is 90 feet. This plan is used to help the referee make a reasonable decision after the batter hits the ball.

The home plate is used to help the umpire decide whether the pitcher is putting the ball into the strike zone.

(2) Home plate and hitting area

The size of the home plate is an irregular pentagon made of rubber, the lengths of which are: 17 inches on the side near the mound (about the width of six balls), and 8.5 inches on the parallel sides , the two sides that are in line with the base line are 12 inches, and the two 12-inch side lines are perpendicular to each other at right angles.

The area of the white frame parallel to the 8.5-inch sides of the home plate is the strike zone.

The home plate is placed at the corner of the 90-foot square field, and the other three vertices are first, second, and third base in a counterclockwise direction.

The bases are made of canvas bags 15 inches square, and the area enclosed by the four bases is called the infield.

(3) Strike Reserve

There are on deck circles on the left and right sides of the strike area for the batter to warm up before hitting the field.

In Major League ballparks, team logos are usually drawn in the batting reserve area.

(4) First base

First base is the first base a batter must pass to score.

Unlike second and third base, runners are allowed to overtake the first base bag without being struck out.

When the batter accumulates four bad balls or the pitcher throws a touch, the batter can automatically go to first base.

(5) Second base

Second base is the second base that a runner must pass to score after passing first base, usually guarded by a second baseman and a shortstop.

Usually, if a runner is on second base, the runner is said to be in the “scoring position”, and the second and third bases are collectively called the scoring lap.

(6) Third base

Third base is the closest base a runner can score. Many times when the number of outs is less than 2, the coach will use batter out tactics (such as high-flying sacrificial hits) to let the runners on third base go. Back to home run.

(7) Pitching mound

The pitcher’s mound is an artificial mound raised in the center of the diamond shape of the baseball field. There is usually a white plastic plate on the mound, which is called the pitcher’s plate.

The pitcher’s plate is 2 feet wide and 6 inches deep and serves as the pivot foot for the pitcher to stand on.

According to baseball rules, the pitching mound is a perfect circular mound with a diameter of 18 feet. inches (45.7 centimeters) so that the distance from the leading edge of the pitcher’s plate to the tip of the home plate is 60 feet and 6 inches (18.4 meters). The height of the mound varies.

(8) Outfield

Outfield walls and auditoriums are at least 250 feet away from home plate, and are divided into left field, right field, and center field according to the defensive area.

The outfield boundary line is extended from the home plate. The left and right outfield wings must extend at least 325 feet (99.06 meters), while the ideal distance in the center field is more than 400 feet (121.9 meters). The distances need to be the same.

(9) Base line

The base line is the connecting line between two adjacent base packs, not the white line drawn by chalk or paint on the field.

The running route allowed in the rules is within 3 feet (90 cm) of the base line.

(10) Infield line

The infield line is used to demarcate the boundary between the infield and the outfield.

Because the outfield is usually grass and the infield is dirt, it is also called a grass line.

(11) Out of bounds

The foul line is the two lines extending from home plate to left field and right field respectively to distinguish in-bounds and out-of-bounds. (76.199 meters) above.

2. Stadium facilities

(1) Bullpen

The term bullpen comes from Major League Baseball and is a field where pitchside relay or relief pitchers warm up before leaving the field.

Depending on the course, the location of the bullpen varies, with some courses beside the outfield area in the infield and others behind the outfield fence.

Often the starting pitcher also does a final warm-up in the bullpen before starting.

(2) Scoreboard

The scoreboard is a device used to record the score, hits, hits, hits, and outs during a game. It is usually placed directly behind the center field.

(3) Player rest area

The player rest area is generally located in the outfield area along the first and third base lines in the infield.

In the American professional baseball game, because the home field is determined by the city where the team is located, there is no provision for the location of the rest area of the home team in the American professional baseball rules.

(4) Stadium fence

The field wall is used to separate the field from the auditorium or outside the field, including the home run wall in the outfield and the outfield wall in the infield.

Depending on the site, the fence is usually made of cement or barbed wire.

However, because players on the court often collide with the wall when catching the ball, the walls of many courts use foamed materials to make protective pads on the surface of the concrete.

(5) Auditorium

Baseball stadium auditoriums are usually stepped. The International Baseball Federation (IBAF) stipulates that when the organizer handles international official games, the venue must be able to accommodate more than 10,000 people to watch the game at the same time.

3. Lighting Design

The lighting of baseball field is different from the lighting requirements of other fields,

The area of a baseball field is about 1.6 times that of a football field, and the shape is fan-shaped.

Generally speaking, the average illuminance of the inner field is about 50% higher than the average illuminance of the outer field, so the uniformity of the illuminance of the outer field is the difficulty. It is necessary to take into account the difference in the illuminance value between the inner field and the outer field, as well as the inner field. The illuminance value at the junction of the field and the outer field.

It is expected that the illuminance values of the inner field and the outer field are designed to be significantly different, and the boundary line between the inner field and the outer field is expected to be designed as a watershed of illuminance values, thereby reducing the illuminance value of the outer field area adjacent to the inner field and reducing the The difference between the illuminance value between the area and the arc edge area of the external field, so as to improve the uniformity of the external field illuminance.

During the design, the projection point and beam angle of each light must be selected and calculated one by one. If necessary, the height of the light pole must be adjusted to ensure that the various lighting indicators of the baseball field comply with the International Commission on Illumination (CIE) standards. And the relevant standards of domestic venues.

The lighting design of baseball field must not only meet the average vertical illuminance and average horizontal illuminance, but also must achieve the uniformity of vertical illuminance and horizontal illuminance, as well as the proportional coefficient of average vertical illuminance and average horizontal illuminance.

In addition, it is necessary to limit the value of the glare index, and choose a light source with a higher color rendering index and a corresponding color temperature, so as to meet the basic functional requirements of the lighting baseball field, ensure the normal performance of baseball players during night training and games, and ensure the color TV. When broadcasting, it clearly reflects the instantaneous movements and postures of athletes, and can capture the trajectory of baseball in high-speed motion.

The main points of baseball field lighting, it boils down to:

(1) The diameter of the baseball is small, the movement speed is fast, and the instantaneous change of the trajectory is difficult to capture, so sufficient horizontal illumination and vertical illumination within a certain height range are required.

(2) It is necessary to meet the illumination requirements of the infield and outfield of the baseball field, and conform to the relationship of uniformity and gradient.

(3) According to the site environment, determine the number of poles, the height of the poles, the type of lights, the width of the beam and the number of lights.