Baltimore Orioles general manager Mike Elias announced on Friday that the team would modify the dimensions at Oriole Park at Camden Yards for the 2025 season, moving the left-field wall in as much as 20 feet in some locations and lowering the height to just below 7 feet in some spots.
“Our baseball operations department, after careful deliberation, has decided to pursue modifications to the dimensions of our left-field wall in advance of 2025 Opening Day,” Elias said.
The Orioles moved the left-field wall back as much as 26 1/2 feet in some spots and raised the wall from 7 feet to 13 feet high between the 2021 and 2022 seasons, creating an environment that delighted pitchers while frustrating hitters — especially those who bat right-handed. The changes in left field led some to dub that section of the park “Mount Wall-timore.”
“We’ve developed a plan to seek a happier medium for these dimensions prior to 2025,” Elias added. “So our hope is by pulling the dimensions in a little bit, and in some areas, it will be as much as 20 feet, and others it will be more like 11 feet and as little as 9 (feet) … (we can) pursue what we’re hoping was a more neutral overall environment for the park.”
In 2021, the season before the left-field wall was moved back, Oriole Park saw 139 home runs — the most in the majors. In the three seasons since the changes in dimensions, home run totals in Baltimore have ranged from 82 in 2022 to 104 during the 2024 regular season.
(Photo of Rays left fielder Randy Arozarena attempting to make a catch against the wall on July 18 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards: Randy Litzinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)