Expert: Tom Schott - 6/29/2007

Question
Why are the centerfield seats at Fenway Park sometimes blocked off and not sold?


Answer
Hi Janice,

Good question. For quite a while now, the dead center field section of ballparks on straight line with the plate, the pitcher's rubber, and second base has been left free of spectators. Some years ago baseball decided that the white background caused by the crowd in dead center field obscured the vision of the hitters because the ball got lost in the background when it left the pitcher's hand. So it mandated that a portion of the center field section directly behind the pitcher be left free of spectators. If you will look at various teams on TV, you will see that this is true everywhere.