why is home plate shaped the way it is?
by david
(benton,illinois)
Home Plate Designed To Be Completely inside Fair Territory.
Baseball Fields Are Laid Out From The Back Point Of Home Plate.
Chalked Baselines Stop At The Batter's Box; But Are In Line To Intersect At The Back Point.
Second View Of The Alignment.
David asked: Why is home plate shaped the way it is?
Rick answered: David, thank you for your question.
Baseball fields are laid out from a starting point, of the back point, of home plate.
Field design calls for all bases, first, second, third and home plate to be located inside fair territory.
By design, home plate has to have the angle cut to it, so that both baselines intersect at the point. If the plate was square, as the other bases, there would be a portion of home plate that would be located in foul ground.
Looking at the images above, you have to visualize the path of the baseline, as it is never physically put in through the area of the batter's box.
Baseball field dimensions have withstood the test of time. Ingenious for sure.
The game today plays pretty much as it did when it was conceived.
Yours in baseball,
Rick
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