Football fields are … well, they are football fields: 120 yards (110 m) long and 53.33 yards (48.76 m) wide, with internal markings to strict regulations. Similarly, basketball courts and hockey rinks are strictly defined.
Baseball fields? All over the freaking map, aside form the dimensions of the diamond. Interestingly, that (and how it changes as stadiums are replaced) is considered part of the charm and lore of the game.
It makes me wonder if something similar would be possible for other sports. Imagine a sideline in football that wasn't regular, or uprights that were somewhat variable. Think of a basketball court that dipped down in one corner, or a hockey rink that was trapezoidal rather than rectangular. "Ah, Smitherby.com Arena — always loved going there and watching the visiting teams struggle with that hump in the center-top of the ice; shame they tore it down back on '23, games haven't been the same since."
Originally shared by +Tony Adams:
I couldn't care less about Baseball but I found this infographic interesting, regardless.
http://twistedsifter.com/2015/10/the-differing-dimensions-of-every-stadium-in-baseball
The Differing Dimensions of Every Stadium in Baseball [Infographic]
An annotated comparison of field and wall dimensions of the current 30 Major League ballparks. Created by Lou Spirito.
Soccer pitches allow for some variables, mostly in terms of width.
+Theron Bretz Interesting. I did not know that.
Of course, soccer pitches are freaking huge, so the variation would seem to be probably a small percentage.
The golf course model?
NHL rinks only became fully uniform in the last decade. Before that there were variations in the goal locations.
+Scott Randel Ah. A nice comparison as well, taken to the other extreme.
+Stan Pedzick Huh. And in dimensions, too. (http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=501626) I did not know that.
Actually football (association) pitches can vary by quite a lot.
If you really want a pitch all over the place – cricket. Also because the boundary is traditionally delineated with a rope, which can be moved, some pitches vary from season to season. Village pitches are the smallest, and increasing in size with level.
There is at least one pitch with a tree growing inside the boundary. By inside I don’t mean ‘next to’.
Football
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/rules_and_equipment/4200666.stm
And for cricket, (I should have said field, pitch is equivalent of mound to plate, and has a precise measurement)
“The ICC Standard Dimensions of a cricket field would require a field containing 16,000 square yards of grass, which is nearly the size of the grass field at the summer Olympics. According to Law 19.1 of ICC Test Match Playing Conditions “The playing area shall be a minimum of 150 yards (137.16 meters) from boundary to boundary square of the pitch, with the shorter of the two square boundaries being a minimum 65 yards (59.43 meters).” The law also states that the straight boundary on both ends of the pitch are supposed to be no less than 70 yards (64.00 meters) in length. The center of the pitch is the starting point for measurements. The measurements are designed so that the playing area is as large as possible while still staying within the guidelines of no boundary being more than 90 yards (82.29 meters) from the center of the pitch.”
http://www.sportsknowhow.com/cricket/dimensions/cricket-pitch-field-dimension-diagram.html
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Lawrence_Lime
Sorry to triple, don’t trust the tablet with multi tabs open when typing.