In Baseball what is the difference between a "hitters ballpark" and a "pitchers ballpark"?

Well, though Rule 1.09 gives specific minimum dimensions for the outfield, and the infield is strictly designed, there are no maximum dimensions, and the outfield wall doesn't have to be a uniform curve. Many "retro" parks being built today have irregular outfield walls to add a little personality to the park. But there are a few factors that lead to such labels.

Coors Field is at such a high altitude that it supposedly allows the ball to travel farther when hit. That means that fly balls carry farther, equaling more extra base hits, specifically HRs. It is a hitter's park b/c of this fact, b/c the altitude gives an advantage to hitters. Bank One in Arizona supposedly is a hitter's park for a similar reason, although it isn't because of altitude. This is I guess offset by closing the dome, but from what I understand something about the barometric pressure favors balls carrying farther, thus favoring the hitter.

Depending on the wind that the ballpark generally experiences, a park can be a hitters park or pitchers park. If a park generally has winds blowing in from the outfield, it is going to hang-up fly balls, decreasing extra base hits and HRs. If the wind usually travels in the other direction, it is going to help balls carry when they get up into the jet stream, favoring hitters. Wrigley experiences winds in both directions depending on the day, so some days it favors hitters and somedays it favors pitchers.

Some outfields are very small, such as in Houston, and some outfields are very large, such as in DC. A park where the outfield is small generally allows for more flies to carry out that wouldn't in another park, thus favoring the hitter. A large outfield takes away flies that would be HRs in other parks, thus favoring the pitcher.

Some parks have outfields that one side is much shorter than the other, such as Yankee Stadium. RF is very close, favoring lefthanded hitters, and LF and CF (as well as the gaps) are rather deep, thus putting righhanders at a disadvantage. Fenway has a really short LF and normal size RF, but LF also has the green monster (a really high wall that must be cleared for a hit to be a HR). So while you still generally have to crush a ball to get it out to right, many righthanders learn to hit flies off the monster, which generally become extra base hits as you can't get someone out by catching a ball on the fly that has already struck a wall.

Foul territory is another factor. Rule 1.09 states that basically the edges of the field can't be closer than 250 feet, but take a look sometimes at how much extra foul territory some parks have. Look at how little is available down the LF foul line in Fenway. The more foul territory available, the more often a foul that is a fly ball will be able to be caught for an out, rather than just carry into the stands for either one of the first two strikes, or else not count for strike 3 and thus allow the batter to keep the at bat alive, which wears down on the pitcher (both in terms of this at bat and in terms of total pitch count in the game) and allows the hitter to see more pitches, allowing for a greater chance of the hitter seeing a mistake he can hit.

If you go to mlb.com and click on the gameday link (the one that allows you to see pitch by pitch updates for the game without listening to it or hearing it), the little window that open shows a little picture of the field they are playing at. Look around at different parks and you'll see that the outfields can be very different, despite meeting league minimum rules.

Personally, I also think some fields get reputations that actually is a result of the pitcher's who have pitched their over the years, rather than any physical aspect of the park. If a club has a history of really great pitching, generally that park might become considered a pitcher's park, even if the advantage was caused by pitchers and not hitters, and thus the average pitcher might not find it to be a pitcher's park.

The only regulations are the distance between bases, the distance to the mound and size of the batters box. There is a regulation saying that outfield fences shouldn't be less than 325', but that is pretty much ignored. A hitters park is a field that due to its design the hitter has a better chance there than at other parks. Coors Field is a good example, because of the altitude the ball flies a long way. Because of that the fences are way back and that makes huge gaps in the outfield for the ball to land. A pitchers park gives the advantage to the defense and pitchers. The Padres stadium is a good example of a pitchers ballpark.

Without knowing what the situation is, I give the hitter the slight advantage for reasons stated by Nate. If a baserunner's on third with less than 2 outs, I greatly favor the hitter because a wild pitch (or passed ball, depending on how the pitch is scored) not only walks the batter but also allows the runner to score. Bases-loaded situations are even worse for the pitcher because the ball doesn't even have to be a wild pitch in order to force the runner home. If there are 2 outs and at least third base is open, I give the pitcher the slight edge because the worst that can happen from a ball is the batter reaches base with no guarantee of scoring. All other situations go back to my initial statement.

In a pitcher's ballpark, the foul ball territory is larger and wider (due to moving back the seats. The walls in a pitcher's park are also farther out and higher. Example- Oakland Athletic's stadium

A hitter's ballpark is where the foul ball territory is minamul, and the walls are closer and shorter. (Although Coor's field is the same size as a pitcher's ballpark, the high elevation and thin air make for a lot of extra-base hits.) Example- The Ballpark In Arllington. (Texas Rangers)

Its a combination of climate and length of the fences from the plate.Theres other smaller factors to like some stadiums have more foul territory for more foul pop outs that would have went into the stands at other places giving the batter another oppurtunity. For the most part,places with shorter fences and thinner air like Coors Field (rockies) and Arlington (rangers) will obviously see more homeruns while places with longer fences and denser air like Shea Stadium (mets) and Dodger Stadium (dodgers) will see fewer.

There are regulations in size but a baseball field is more complex and takes up more room then a basketball court so they have to make some alterations sometimes to make the Stadium fit at the chosen site.At fenway the green monster was built cause they didn't have room to go as many feet from the plate as the average stadium so the higher fence is there to compensate for the shorter distance just for one example.

It all depends on the dimensions of the ballpark. For example, Babe Ruth, a left-handed batter, was said to have cried when the Yankees moved out of the Polo Grounds to new Yankee Stadium. The distance to the right field fence was only 257 feet.

On the other hand, Griffith Stadium was a true pitchers park (407-L, 421-C, 320-R). The Washington Senators as a team hit only one home run there in 1945.

a hitter's park is one that favors hitters. meaning smaller dimensions (PNC Park in Pittsburgh is a good hitters park).

A pitcher's park is one with longer dimensions that makes it harder for home runs to be hit. A good example would be Comerica Park in Detroit or Minute Maid Park in Houston. Comerica is 420 to center field. That's a long flight. Minute Maid I think is 432 to Center field. That's a really long flight.

Then you have those parks that really don't favor either. Take ATT Park in Frisco. You have a left field line that is 328 feet. That's a good distance...but then, on the right field side, it's 307. That's Little League distance.

Also to consider, especially with ATT park...is the shape of the field. ATT Park, Minute Maid Park and Ameriquest Field have some pretty strange nooks and crannies on the field. Minute Maid has that flagpole IN PLAY out in center field. ATT Park has some odd angles to it out in center field as well. Ameriquest Field has some odd angles as well out in left center field - which favors hitters because if a ball takes a bad bounce and gets caught - extra bases here we come, and maybe even an inside the park HR.

If you are refering to open air out door ball fields other things come into play as Prevailing winds. The setting sun. General Humidity levels. Elevation and others. Prevailing winds if the batter stands to the west hitting the ball to the east it should carry further than if it were the other way around due to the wind carrying the ball further. Humidity the thicker the air the shorter distance the ball will travel. Elevation the thinner the air the faster the ball will carry. Same goes with pitching if the pitcher is pitching from the West to the East and so forth.

In a hitter's park, the dimmensions are a lot more shallow meaning it is easier to hit it out of the park. There is little foul territory so you can't foul out and in some cases, environment plays a role (i.e. Colorado's thin atmosphere makes it easy to hit the long ball.) parks with smaller dimmensions that are hitters parks include TOR, NYY, BOS, MIL, CIN, etc. Basically, anything under 400 feet is a hitter's park. Over it is a pitcher's park. And in addition, there is a lot of foul territory. (i.e. WAS, OAK, NYM, SF, etc.) Hope that helps.

no all ball parks fence distances can be differet. the dimensions of base paths and mound to plate are regulation tho. the hitters park is a park with short fences and pitchers parks have a longer distance to the wall for a homerun to be hit