So, I’ve been getting into baseball lately, and one thing that always got me confused was the whole deal with home plate and which side is considered “home.” I mean, it’s called “home plate,” right? But then you see teams switching dugouts and stuff, and it just didn’t make sense to me. So, I figured I’d dig into it a bit and share what I found.
First off, I went to see a few games. I watched carefully and saw that in Major League Baseball, it seemed like the home team mostly hung out in the dugout on the first-base side. But then, I’d hear about other teams where it was the opposite. I was like, “What’s the deal?” There’s gotta be a reason, or maybe not?
I started by just watching how the players moved around the field. You know, where they stood when they were batting and stuff. Home plate is that weird five-sided thing at the bottom of the diamond. And it’s pretty important because that’s where the batter stands to try to hit the ball, and it is also where a player has to reach to score a run.
I even went down to a local baseball field to check things out up close. It’s a 17-inch square, well, not really a square, but you know what I mean. It’s made of this hard rubber stuff, and two of its corners are cut off, making one of the edges 17 inches long. Pretty specific, huh? I tried to measure it myself, but my tape measure wasn’t long enough, lol.
Anyway, back to the dugout thing. I did some more digging. Turns out, in the MLB, it’s usually the home team that takes the first base dugout, and the away team gets the third base side. But, here’s the kicker, it’s not a strict rule. The home team can actually choose where they want to be. From what I could gather, it’s actually pretty evenly split in the majors.
I even read that in both the National League and American League, more home team dugouts are on the first-base side. But, even the oldest parks have their own way of doing things. Like, the Cubs sit on the third-base side at Wrigley, while the Red Sox are on the first-base side at Fenway. Go figure!
- Home plate is where the batter stands.
- It’s a 17-inch square with two corners cut off.
- Home teams usually get the first base dugout, but not always.
- It’s about 50/50 in the majors.
- Even old parks like Wrigley and Fenway have their own dugout setups.
So, yeah, that’s what I figured out about the whole home plate and dugout situation in baseball. It’s not as straightforward as you might think, but it’s definitely interesting how things work. I’m still learning, but it’s been a fun little investigation!
