Fun With Ballparks: The Stadium Shape Up

by Chris Spurlock on Jan 26, 2011 9:01 AM EST in Visuals Above Replacement

Since the spring semester started up last Tuesday, I've been pretty swamped with work. So, I thought I would make something simple and fun (read: not as time-consuming as those pesky interactive graphics) for this week. It's inspired by some of the great work Craig Robinson is doing over at Flip Flop Fly Ball. If you love baseball infographics and you haven't yet checked out Craig's work, you need to get on it. Anyway, like I said, this one is basic, but it's pretty to look at.

My favorite thing about the image is that the final result of the semi-trasparent overlays gives you some idea of the average/standard shape of an MLB stadium. Thoughts?

Note: All stadiums placed such that home plate is in the same location on each field. If anyone would like to see the numbers and play with them, the spreadsheet I used to calculate averages is here.

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For you Photoshop wiz's...

Is it possible to somehow layer all 30 ballparks using some level of transparency, and then remove any parts of the picture that are a certain shade or lighter? That would allow you to show the “median” sized ballpark or other theoretical percentile-sized parks.

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by Sky Kalkman on Jan 26, 2011 9:18 AM EST reply actions

You can.

Using the Magic Wand Tool would probably be the best/easiest option.

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by EminenceFront on Jan 26, 2011 1:31 PM EST up reply actions

But it's not a specific-type method. You can't really set parameters for something like that in PS.

You would have to eyeball it.

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by EminenceFront on Jan 26, 2011 1:33 PM EST up reply actions

Right.

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by Justin Bopp on Jan 26, 2011 1:49 PM EST up reply actions

Yes you could

You could add the transparency effect to get the graphic like in the post, then flatten all the layers and rasterize the shapes so that you get a nice solid mass of shades of color. If you use greys, then it’s probably easiest (because you can much more easily figure out how the magic wand will work). Then you just click on the pitcher’s mound (where all 30 overlap), and make sure the magic wand tolerance is set such that whatever transparency value you picked x15 will be selected (so you get whatever area is covered by 15 stadiums).

That won’t be the “median” ballpark, I don’t think, but it will show what area is covered by at least half of the ballparks. Which is slightly different. If you wanted to do the “median” ballpark, you’d have to do some fancy math where you pick X points around the field and figure out the median distance to each point, and make that the outline. They should be pretty close though (all things considered).

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by jmaciel on Jan 26, 2011 8:18 PM EST up reply actions

That might be possible, sure.

You could also just eyeball it. I might play with that later.

by Chris Spurlock on Jan 26, 2011 10:05 AM EST reply actions

Presented this way...

the differences, especially at the extremes, are pretty striking. The smallest park is way, way smaller than the biggest. Also, what happened to foul territory?

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by mattybobo on Jan 26, 2011 10:11 AM EST reply actions

Oh my god, I want to get some jQuery up in this thing's face.

Very nice, sir.

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by adarowski on Jan 26, 2011 10:31 AM EST reply actions

Thanks!

I plan on spending this week making it interactive. You know, roll over a stadium name and see it darken. Also, maybe have check-able boxes that will show or hide stadiums.

by Chris Spurlock on Jan 26, 2011 10:39 AM EST up reply actions

Thank you! I want to play!

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by adarowski on Jan 26, 2011 11:15 AM EST up reply actions

I'd call you a genius, Spur...

But that would be an understatement. Another awesome visual.

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by Dave Gershman on Jan 26, 2011 11:29 AM EST reply actions

So the smallest park is Dodger Stadium? Would not have guessed. Or am I wrong?

(I base that on the shortest CF line…)

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by Sky Kalkman on Jan 26, 2011 11:52 AM EST reply actions

Hmm...good question.

I’m not good at geometry (never have been), but someone else might be able to calculate stadium area based on corner and center field dimensions. Here’s the spreadsheet with the numbers:

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0An71msoJrWK2dFpPaUU3dVZVTFJBYWtGMlFRUGk3c2c&hl=en

by Chris Spurlock on Jan 26, 2011 12:07 PM EST up reply actions

I think you would have to use triangles...

…to roughly estimate size. One triangle would be from home plate to CF to RF and back to home plate, and the other would be from home plate to CF to LF and back to home plate. You would have to find the area of those triangles (1/2 base * height is the formula), and then add the two areas together to get a rough estimate of size.

However, you would have to use some sort of scale tool to measure the distance from CF to the corner (either RF or LF). I calculated the size of the “average MLB park” and came up with ~100,000 ft.

Keep in mind that this excludes any area that falls outside of the triangles (odd corners, foul territory, etc.), so it is a VERY rough estimate.

by Chris Spurlock on Jan 26, 2011 12:27 PM EST up reply actions

Can graphic software programs count pixels of a certain color?

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by Sky Kalkman on Jan 26, 2011 12:40 PM EST up reply actions

Makes me wonder what the 4 outfielder thing is all about.

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by Justin Bopp on Jan 26, 2011 1:19 PM EST up reply actions

Was your source of the ballpark images from MLBAM?

I’m assuming since you credit katron.org, and that’s what he uses in his BIP tool, that that’s where your images come from, also.

If so, you have to be aware that those diagrams are not made to scale. For fun, it’s fine, but if you want to do any actual calculations, don’t use those.

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by Mike Fast on Jan 26, 2011 12:29 PM EST reply actions

Cool, good to know!

Where would you suggest getting more accurate diagrams from?

by Chris Spurlock on Jan 26, 2011 12:38 PM EST up reply actions

If you can get them from Greg Rybarczyk

on his hittrackeronline.com site, that’s what I would suggest.

You can also get images from Google Maps or similar places, and from those you can see some of the screwy stuff in the MLBAM maps (e.g., Green Monster not at a right angle to the foul line), but even with those you may have to stretch one dimension if they were not taken directly overhead.

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by Mike Fast on Jan 26, 2011 12:42 PM EST up reply actions