Building new parks offers challenges, rewards

A short fly ball from Turner Field is a parking lot where The Launching Pad once stood. That was how Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium was known before the Atlanta Braves became a dominant team in 1991.

John Schuerholz has been the Braves' general manager since October 1990.

He was instrumental in the personnel moves after that season that shored up the Braves defense, the acquisitions of third baseman Terry Pendleton, shortstop Rafael Belliard, first baseman Sid Bream and center fielder Otis Nixon that improved the pitching staff and helped Atlanta make a worst-to-first climb in 1991.

Building a pitching staff in a hitter-friendly ballpark is a challenge, as Schuerholz knows. Eager to discuss the subject, Schuerholz initially mentioned a Coors Field caveat.

''I think it is wrong to include Colorado in a comparison of all other ballparks,'' Schuerholz said. ''That is completely an unnatural environment because of the altitude, because of the very bizarre way the ball reacts because of the altitude. So I think you have to eliminate that park and talk about all other hitter-friendly parks.''

To Schuerholz, certain pitching truths apply in any ballpark, regardless of whether they're hitter-friendly. Find pitchers with sound deliveries that will hold up, he said, so ''you could have them for some sort of long-term continuity.''

Command is vital anywhere, but more so in ballparks that favor offense where walks or having to make pitches in a hitter's count can lead to more damage.

Schuerholz said the intellectual capacity of a pitcher knowing how to set up hitters and pitch away from a hitter's strength is an asset anywhere.

''But in hitter-friendly ballparks,'' Schuerholz said, ''they're more essential ingredients.''

Some subtle assists can come courtesy of the grounds crew. In a hitter-friendly ballpark, Braves pitching coach Leo Mazzone said, soft dirt at home plate and thick infield grass are helpful in slowing balls and allowing the defense to make a play.

Raising the outfield walls, Mazzone said, is another way to assist pitchers toiling in a ballpark where hitters have the clear advantage. A little bit of plexiglass could go a long way at Coors Field, Mazzone said, where the height of the outfield wall is 8 feet from the left-field foul line to right-center where the out-of-town scoreboard begins and raises the height to 14 feet.

Architectural tinkering to make the footing more equal for pitchers in certain ballparks might be far-fetched. But the selection process of the pitchers on those staffs is a variable that can be controlled.

Cleveland Indians general manager John Hart, whose assistant was Colorado Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd, has put together pitching staffs for Jacobs Field, a ballpark geared somewhat to offense.

The Indians' problem in recent Octobers has been the lack of a No. 1 starter, a necessity for the playoffs. A bona fide No. 1 starter is particularly helpful in a small ballpark where the bullpen can come under constant fire. The Indians believe they're developing a No. 1 starter in Bartolo Colon, a homegrown power pitcher whose fastball hits 98-99 mph.

Hart said attracting a dominant ace as a free agent is difficult because of what they cost and the choices available to them. In the Rockies case, Darryl Kile's miseries at Coors Field will make it harder to sign a No. 1 starter.

Everything being equal, Hart said sinker-slider pitchers who are more apt to get groundballs do better in a ballpark that favors hitters. The Indians found that to be the case with free agent Orel Hershiser, who was 36 when he came to Cleveland in 1995 and over three seasons went 45-21. But besides a sinker, Hershiser had another key intangible quality.

''The X factor for pitching in a small ballpark is a guy that's mentally tough,'' Hart said. ''A guy that goes to Colorado, at the end of the day, they're going to have to be mentally tough. You want guys who are going to get after it out there, because it may not always be pretty. It can be depressing sometimes.

''Guys read their numbers. They watch the highlights and see themselves neck-jerking (when a home run leaves the bat) on a regular basis. They get frustrated, and some guys that aren't tough start to look for excuses.''

GOING, GOING, GONE: The Rockies and their opponents combined to hit 303 home runs at Coors Field last season. That was a record for any ballpark in a single season and broke the mark of 271 set in Coors Field in 1996. Indeed, far more home runs were hit at Coors Field last season than anywhere else.

Home runs by ballparks in 1999:

NATIONAL LEAGUE:

Team Ballpark HRs

Colorado Coors Field 303.

Chicago Wrigley Field 222.

Cincinnati Cinergy Field 213.

Los Angeles Dodger Stadium 194.

Milwaukee County Stadium 187.

St. Louis Busch Stadium 187.

Arizona Bank One Ballpark 185.

Philadelphia Veterans Stadium 185.

San Fran. 3Com Park 185.

Pittsburgh Three Rivers Stadium 171.

Atlanta Turner Field 161.

New York Shea Stadium 161.

San Diego Qualcomm Stadium 159.

Montreal Olympic Stadium 152.

Florida Pro Player Stadium 123.

Houston The Astrodome 118.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Team Ballpark HRs

Detroit Tiger Stadium 235.

Seattle The Kingdome (134), Safeco Field (93) 227.

Cleveland Jacobs Field 219.

Texas The Ballpark at Arlington 212.

Baltimore Camden Yards 191.

Toronto SkyDome 189.

Oakland Network Assoc. Coliseum 186.

Chicago Comiskey Park 183.

Anaheim Edison Field 179.

Kansas City Kauffman Stadium 170.

New York Yankee Stadium 158.

Tampa Bay Tropicana Field 157.

Minnesota The Metrodome 156.

Boston Fenway Park 152.

NEW THIS YEAR: The Detroit Tigers (Comerica Park), Houston Astros (Enron Field) and San Francisco Giants (Pacific Bell Park) move into new ballparks this season, and the latter two are seemingly hitter-friendly. The dimensions of each facility:

Comerica Park - 345 feet to left field, 398 to left-center, 420 to center, 380 to right-center and 330 to right field. The outfield wall is 111/2 feet high in right-center, 81/2 feet elsewhere.

Enron Field - 315 feet to left field, 362 to left-center, 435 to center, 373 to right-center and 326 to right field. The outfield wall is 21 feet high from the left-field line to the scoreboard, 10 feet from left-center to center field and 7 feet from center field to the right-field line.

Pacific Bell Park - 335 to left field, 364 to left-center, 404 to center field, 420 feet to right-center and 307 feet to right field. The outfield wall is 8 feet high in left field and center, 11 feet in left-center and 25 feet in right field.

Contact Jack Etkin of the Denver Rocky Mountain News at http://www.denver-rmn.com.