Tape-measure job reveals mismarked RFK walls
Associated PressPublished July 23, 2005
WASHINGTON - Armed with a 300-foot yellow tape measure, Nationals outfielder Jose Guillen decided to see for himself Friday how far a ball must be hit to clear the wall at RFK Stadium.
About four hours before Friday night's game against Roger Clemens and the Astros, the former Devil Ray was on the field with other Nationals players and members of the coaching staff, checking the measurements from home plate to the fences.
The Washington Post reported Friday that the Nationals had brought in a surveyor to check the distances and found it was 394.74 feet to the "380" mark on the wall in left-center and 395 feet to the "380" mark in right-center. The team moved the green pads with the "380" markings closer to the foul lines to be more accurate.
Guillen and a few other players said they felt vindicated.
"Every ball I hit to the warning track I write down. I should have 29 homers. I should be up there with Derrek Lee, Andruw Jones," said Guillen, who has hit 18 of his 19 homers on the road.
He and other Nationals players have maintained the distance markers were incorrect.
"It wasn't easy to hit homers here. We knew the reason. Guys have played enough to know that when they hit a ball good to the gap, it's not 380 there," catcher Brian Schneider said. "The truth's out now, so now we know."
Through Thursday, 47 homers were hit in 47 games in Washington, by far the fewest at any park in the majors.