When Comerica Park hosted its first Tigers game in 2000, the outfield was nothing short of massive. “Comerica National Park”, as it was nicknamed by Detroit OF Bobby Higginson, ranked 2nd to
Coors Field for the most square footage of fair territory. But even Coors couldn’t touch Comerica’s LF dimensions, which made Triples Alley at
Oracle Park look shallow.
But that didn’t last long. In 2004, nearly the entire LF fence was brought in a full 25 feet. The decision likely had to do with the Tigers’ inability to attract left-handed sluggers in the free agent market. The most prominent of which was Juan Gonzalez, who refused to sign a record extension deal during the 2000 season unless the LF dimensions were shortened.
As it stands today, Comerica is still a top-tier pitchers park. If each field in MLB were broken into equal thirds, CF at Comerica would easily be the most difficult spot to hit a home run. It measures 420 straight-away (the furthest in MLB) and the fence extends horizontally making the corners even deeper. The 15-foot-tall wall just right of center doesn’t make things any easier for home run hitters. One solace for batters is that Comerica tends to play fairly neutral for home runs down the line as the right and left-field fences take a notably vertical path back toward the foul poles.
Outside of its pitcher-friendly dimensions, Comerica Park’s next most distinguishing feature is its receptiveness to wind. It tends to blow at above average-speeds in Detroit (10 mph on average) and other than the huge scoreboard in left, the area beyond the outfield perimeter is wide open with no upper deck bleachers and a clear view of the Detroit skyline. As a result, gusts of wind can easily make their way to the playing surface. Ballpark Pal rates the wind at Comerica as 4th most influential, and its direction tends to nudge the advantage towards pitchers as it blows in (39%) more often than it blows out (27%). That along with below-average temperatures tend to reduce expected carry (rated 28th).
