Baseball 101: The places of baseball

Whoever coined the phrase “we’re in a good place” could have been a baseball person. And it could have meant just about anything.

In baseball, “place” can refer to a country, city, ballpark, historic site, iconic address or some peculiar pocket on a field. But it’s not like real estate, where “location, location, location” is sheer geography. In baseball, “place” also means a niche in the standings, which generally defines a team’s entire regular season. Just say “last” and you need say no more.

Sometimes the meanings intersect as if they were the corner of Hollywood and Vine. That neighborhood, in fact, begins 2024 by welcoming the two most coveted free agents, Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Each of them chose Los Angeles a) because that part of Southern California is a nice place, much closer to his home in Japan than is any town on the East Coast, and b) the Dodgers are perennially in first place.

“I’m not sure how long I’m going to be able to play the game, so I do prioritize winning," Ohtani said during his first news conference in his new digs, Dodger Stadium. "That’s on top of my list and that will probably never change, and that was one of the reasons why I chose this team."

Bottom line: “Baseball” is tied at the hip to “place,” and vice versa.

Which brings us to Baseball 101, Newsday’s annual seminar. Every year at this time, we offer a look at the game through the prism of 101 examples. In the past, we have presented 101 nicknames, 101 firsts, 101 memorable numbers, 101 combos and so on. This year, it is 101 Places of Baseball.

This is an especially pertinent subject now, what with “place” having been a theme of the 2023 World Series. Neither the champion Texas Rangers nor the Arizona Diamondbacks had finished first in their division. Also, placement assumed new status in the rules of baseball last season with the decree that two infielders must stay on either side of second base.

Perhaps more than any sport, baseball is a product of environs. The fabled winter Hot Stove is fueled by locales: Where is so-and-so going? Throughout major league history, clubs have relocated, reflecting and affecting society’s trends, especially by moving west and south. In fact, one franchise has won titles while representing Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta (the former in 1914, after the team was in last place on July 15).

Places always have been on the tips of notable baseball tongues. Such as Yogi Berra on shadow-plagued left field in the original Yankee Stadium: “It gets late early out there.” Or Mike Piazza on Shea Stadium: “It has a kind of quirky charm.” Or Billy Martin on Minnesota’s infamous Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome: “This place stinks. It’s a shame a great guy like HHH had to be named after it.”

A baseball place is something you can find on GPS or FanGraphs, or both. It always has been something like that. In the days of the woebegone Senators, Washington D.C., a city named for the president who was hailed as “first in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen,” earned this description: “First in war, first in peace and last in the American League.”

With that in mind, here is our Baseball 101 seminar for this year. In no particular order, except for the first two, are 101 Places of the Game:

1. New York City. It has been said that New York is the capital of the world, which may or may not be true and may or may not be a good thing. Either way, there is more objective evidence for calling New York the home office of baseball.

The city not only has two high-profile major league teams — the Yankees and Mets totaled 5,842,571 in attendance last season — but has two minor league teams (the Brooklyn Cyclones and the independent Staten Island FerryHawks). Its history includes two former big league teams, the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants, and six Negro League teams that played at least some games in the five boroughs. New York’s baseball legacy features 35 World Series championships: 27 for the Yankees, five for the Giants, two for the Mets, one for the Dodgers.

New York is where Major League Baseball was integrated, dramatically reshaping the sport and American society. It is where the baseball commissioner’s office, the players association office and the Elias Sports Bureau are located. It is where players officially receive Most Valuable Player, Cy Young and other major awards, at the annual Manhattan-based baseball writers’ dinner. It is the home of major television network offices, where baseball’s massive contracts are negotiated.

It may not be No. 1 on every free agent’s list, but New York City surely is the center of the baseball universe.

2. Cooperstown. Just saying the upstate village’s name evokes the Baseball Hall of Fame and the immortality it confers.

3. Baltimore. The origin of the Yankees’ most legendary figure, not the franchise itself. Babe Ruth was born there in 1895. But contrary to popular belief, the team did not begin as the Baltimore Orioles. Author and former Yankees PR director Marty Appel said the latter club went out of business in 1902 and that the New York Highlanders — a new entity that would be renamed “Yankees” — began in 1903.

4. Naguabo, Puerto Rico. The hometown of Edwin Diaz (Mets), his brother Alexis (Reds) and Jose Berrios (Blue Jays). They are helping to rebuild the baseball facilities in Daguano Park.

5. Kansas City. The hometown of Edward Dillon Stengel, who came to be known by the city’s initials, K.C., pronounced “Casey.”

6. Hanshin Koshein Stadium, Japan. Where teenager Shohei Ohtani first registered a 99-mph fastball during a national high school tournament.

7. Swimming pool beyond right field at Diamondbacks’ Chase Field.

8. 5th St. NW, Washington, D.C. Where Mickey Mantle’s famous “tape measure home run” ball was found, April 17, 1953. The most recent study says it traveled at least 538 feet from home plate at Griffith Stadium.

9. Second base. Two infielders must be positioned on either side of it, according to a 2023 rule.

10. Second place. Finish in their divisions by the Rangers and Diamondbacks, the 2023 World Series teams. (The Rangers had the same record as the Astros but lost a tiebreaker.)

11. Polo Grounds. Home at various times for Giants, Yankees, Mets.

12. Al Lang Field, St. Petersburg, Florida. Spring training home at various times for Giants, Yankees, Mets.

13. The corners. Where Greg Maddux placed most of his pitches.

14. Mobile, Alabama. Where Tommie Agee and Cleon Jones grew up as buddies en route to being together in the 1969 Mets' outfield for one of the most amazing World Series triumphs ever. Also the boyhood home of Hall of Famers, Hank Aaron, Willie McCovey, Ozzie Smith, Billy Williams and Satchel Paige.

15. Upper deck, leftfield, Shea Stadium: Painted circle marking spot of Agee’s 505-foot home run on April 10, 1969.

16. Above upper deck, leftfield, Citi Field. Display of Mets retired numbers, to which Dwight Gooden’s 16 and Darryl Strawberry’s 18 will be added this season.

17. Westhampton High School Field. Where future Hall of Fame slugger Carl Yastrzemski pitched a 1-0 no-hitter for Bridgehampton against Center Moriches in the Suffolk Class B championship game, June 10, 1957.

18. Patchogue-Medford High School Field. Where Ward Melville’s Steven Matz pitched a winning one-hitter and the home team’s Marcus Stroman pitched a three-hitter in a duel between future major-leaguers (and briefly Mets teammates), April 16, 2009.

19. San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic. Called “The Cradle of Shortstops” for producing Tony Fernandez, Fernando Tatis Jr., Mariano Duncan and others. But it also produced stars at other positions: Sammy Sosa, George Bell, Rico Carty, Robinson Cano.

20. Linden, California. Home of Patty and Wayne Judge, who adopted a baby the day after he was born in 1992 and named him Aaron.

21. Fourth Place. Standing in NL West for the Rockies on Sept. 16, 2007, the day they began a 14-1 run that propelled them into the postseason and on to the World Series.

22. Houston Astrodome. First indoor stadium (long shuttered but still standing). Mickey Mantle hit the first home run there, in an exhibition game.

23. Caracas, Venezuela. Birthplace of Mets prospect Luisangel Acuna, close by La Guaira, where his brother, National League MVP Ronald, was born.

24. Willie Mays’ glove. “The place where triples go to die.” (A description previously used for Tris Speaker's glove.)

25. Mall of America, Bloomington, Minnesota. The shopping behemoth built on the site of Metropolitan Stadium, home of the Twins (home plate spot is inside Nickelodeon Universe).

26. Busch Stadium, St. Louis. The site of the 103-degree 1966 All-Star Game, after which Casey Stengel said, “The new park sure holds the heat well.”

27. Barquisimeto, Venezuela. Where Mets manager Carlos Mendoza, as a child, lived in the same apartment complex as Hall of Fame shortstop Luis Aparicio.

28. The Mendoza Line. A non-geographical location named for light-hitting shortstop Mario Mendoza and referring to a .200 batting average. Anything lower is said to be “below the Mendoza line.”

29. Elysian Fields, Hoboken, New Jersey. Often considered the site of the first game played with “Cartwright rules,” June 19, 1846 (a claim disputed by some historians).

30. Engel Stadium, Chattanooga, Tennessee. Ballpark reconfigured to look like Ebbets Field for filming of “42,” a biopic about Jackie Robinson.

31. Sky above Shea Stadium. Place from which airplane noise and skydiver Michael Sergio fell (the latter during the 1986 World Series).

32. Donora, Pennsylvania. Birthplace of Stan Musial, Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr.

33. Norristown, Pennsylvania. Birthplace of Tom Lasorda and Mike Piazza.

34. Somewhere in a tributary of Delaware River, New Jersey. Tightly guarded secret source of Lena Blackburne Mud, the concoction trademarked by former player Lena Blackburne and used to rub up all major league baseballs.

35. Montreal. Netflix is preparing a documentary about why the Expos left.

36. London. Mets vs. Phillies, June 8-9.

37. The Hill, St. Louis. The neighborhood in which Yogi Berra and Joe Garagiola grew up across the street from each other.

38. Monument Park. It's beyond centerfield in the new Yankee Stadium, a nod to the fact that the original three monuments were on the playing field in deep centerfield of the original Yankee Stadium.

39. Fenway Park. It's the oldest ballpark in the major leagues, opened in 1912 — without the fabled Green Monster, which first took shape in 1934.

40. Inside the Green Monster. Where staffers frantically operate the manual scoreboard and where hundreds of players have visited and autographed a wall.

41. 41 Seaver Way. Official address of Citi Field.

42. Wrigley Field. It opened in 1914, on the grounds of a former seminary. It was first called Weeghman Park and did not have the now-iconic outfield stands.

43. Broadcast booth, Wrigley Field. Cubs announcer Harry Caray began the tradition of singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” over the public address system. Many celebrities have continued the tradition.

44. Atlanta leftfield bullpen. Reliever Tom House became famous for catching Hank Aaron’s record-breaking 715th career home run 50 years ago at Fulton County Stadium.

45. Jack Norworth Memorial, Anaheim, California. The gravestone of the composer of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” includes the song lyrics.

46. Vero Beach. The Dodgers converted the former naval base into the gem of Florida spring training sites in 1948, making it the first fully integrated baseball facility in the South. The team left for Arizona after March 2008.

47. Perth, Australia. The hometown of All-Star reliever Liam Hendriks, who has overcome cancer and Tommy John surgery and reported to Red Sox camp this year.

48. Rightfield stands, original Yankee Stadium. Sal Durante ushered in the age of homer-catcher as celebrity, snagging Roger Maris’ record-breaking 61st in 1961. (Durante died 61 days after Aaron Judge broke the AL record in 2022.)

49. Rightfield stands, refurbished Yankee Stadium. Jeffrey Maier, 12, made a name for himself when he reached over the wall and pulled in what was ruled a home run by Derek Jeter in the 1996 postseason.

50. Pacifica, California. Town enshrined Keith Hernandez and his brother Gary into its Hall of Fame in February.

51. The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. It's located in Kansas City.

52. Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic. The first location outside the U.S. to have a native son in the Hall of Fame (Juan Marichal, 1983).

53. 10 inches above the level of home plate. The height of the pitcher’s mound since 1969 (it was 15 inches before that).

54. Traditional distance between bases. It's 90 feet, slightly decreased with the expanded base size in 2023.

55. 55 Sullivan Place, Brooklyn. The former site of Ebbets Field (1.8 miles from Barclays Center).

56. Las Vegas. The possible next home for the peripatetic Athletics, who already have moved from Philadelphia to Kansas City to Oakland.

57. McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific, Sacramento, California. Agent Scott Boras earned his degree there after a minor-league baseball career.

58. University of Cincinnati. Where Sandy Koufax went on a basketball scholarship.

59. University of Florida. Where Mets teammates Pete Alonso and Harrison Bader were first and second, respectively, on the 2015 Gators with .301 and .297 batting averages.

60. University of Pittsburgh. On the site of the former Forbes Field, there's a plaque marking the spot over which Bill Mazeroski’s home run traveled to end the 1960 World Series.

61. Northeastern University in Boston has a bronze statue of Cy Young outside Churchill Hall on the spot where the mound was for the first World Series in 1903.

62. Candlestick Point, San Francisco. Named for native Candlestick birds, the site of the wind-lashed park that opened for the transplanted New York Giants in 1960.

63. Chavez Ravine. Valley in sight of downtown Los Angeles, offered to the Brooklyn Dodgers for the site of their new ballpark, which opened in 1962.

64. First place. The 1984 champion Tigers' standing in the American League East from Opening Day through the end of the season.

65. McCovey Cove. Kayakers vie for home run balls beyond rightfield at the Giants’ Oracle Park.

66. At the microphone near home plate. Site of Lou Gehrig’s “luckiest man” speech, July 4, 1939.

67. At the public address microphone. Bob Sheppard’s place at Yankees games from 1951 through 2007.

68. Sheppard’s Place. The official name of the media dining room at the current Stadium.

69. Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore opened in 1992, inspiring a wave of small, asymmetrical, quirky retro ballparks (not “stadiums”) that also included these 10:

70. Progressive Field, Cleveland

71. Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati

72. Coors Field, Denver

73. Comerica Park, Detroit

74. American Family Field, Milwaukee

75. Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia

76. PNC Park, Pittsburgh

77. Petco Park, San Diego

78. Oracle Park, San Francisco

79. T-Mobile Park, Seattle

80. Louisville. Home of Hillerich & Bradsby, maker of Louisville Slugger bats.

81. Mudville. A fictional town, joyless after Mighty Casey struck out.

82. Race Street, Cincinnati. The thoroughfare for the Findlay Market Parade, held annually before the Reds’ Opening Day game.

83. Helfaer Field. The youth baseball and softball field on the site of the former Milwaukee County Stadium, where the 1957 champions won World Series Games 4 and 5.

84. Dyersville, Iowa. Field of Dreams.

85. Warning tracks. Ten feet in front of the outfield fences, they became standard in 1949.

86. Light tower above rightfield, Tiger Stadium. Crash-landing spot of Reggie Jackson’s epic home run in the 1971 All-Star Game.

87. Left-centerfield gap, Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh. Where Roberto Clemente’s double landed in his final regular-season at-bat (1972), giving him 3,000 hits for his career.

88. Concourse Plaza Hotel. Once a posh facility near Yankee Stadium, it hosted many team events and was home for numerous players. Second baseman Horace Clarke remained there even after it became mostly a place for welfare recipients.

89. League Park, Cleveland. Joe DiMaggio hit in his 56th consecutive game, July 16, 1941.

90. Cleveland Stadium. DiMaggio’s streak ended, July 17, 1941. (Cleveland played in two parks that season.)

91. Tannersville, Virginia. Billy Wagner, 7, broke his right arm playing football and again falling off the monkey bars. He switched to throwing lefty and wound up with a potential Hall of Fame pitching career.

92. Norfolk, Virginia. David Wright grew up a Mets fan rooting for the club’s nearby Tidewater affiliate.

93. Woodbridge, Virginia. Home of the 2018 High-A Potomac Nationals, where 19-year-old Juan Soto had seven home runs and 18 RBIs in 15 games. He finished that season in the majors with the Nationals and ended the next season with a World Series trophy.

94. Chiba, Japan. Yoshinobu Yamamoto threw a no-hitter last September in front of a crowd that included Yankees executives Brian Cashman and Omar Minaya.

95. Oakland. Where Rickey Henderson had four stints.

96. Guaranteed Rate Field, Chicago. With “the New Comiskey,” the White Sox built an update of their old stadium and missed out on the retro ballpark wave. They now are planning a new place downtown.

97. Visitors’ dugout, Shea Stadium. Billy Martin emerged from there, rather than the Yankees' side, in a surprise announcement that he had been named Yankees manager on Old-Timers Day, 1975 (during the renovation of Yankee Stadium).

98. Outfield, Shea Stadium. Young Patrick Mahomes, son of Mets pitcher Pat, shagged fly balls long before he became a Super Bowl champion.

99. Holton, Kansas. Home of Bill James, father of sabermetrics statistical analysis.

100. Wyoming. It has no high school baseball teams but does have a current major-leaguer, Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo.

101. Last place. Where the Mets stood in the NL East on Aug. 30, 1973, before surging to the division title, the pennant and Game 7 of the World Series.