Now You Know Baseball. Doug Lennox

was still used for Reds games.

      The removal of outfield seats created a less than ideal backdrop for hitters, so a 40-foot black wall was erected in center field. The wall was in play, and for two seasons the wall, known as the Black Monster, was the highest outfield wall in the Majors.

      The Reds moved to their new stadium and Cinergy was completely levelled.

       What stadium has a section called the “Uecker seats”?

      Bob Uecker was a mediocre ballplayer (his lifetime batting average was an even .200), but he became known as “Mr. Baseball” after his playing career thanks to his antics as a broadcaster, actor, and pitchman.

      Uecker appeared in a series of beer commercials for Miller Lite. In one of the most memorable, Uecker is attending a baseball game when an usher tells him he’s in the wrong seat. Uecker follows the usher, saying “I must be in the front row!” He’s then escorted to upper deck seats behind a post.

      Thereafter, fans and media began referring to seats far from the action, or with obstructed views, as “Uecker seats.” It was Milwaukee’s Miller Park that officially gave the name to a section of the stands. Seats in that section are blocked by the pivot for the stadium roof. On the bright side, the tickets only cost one dollar.

       What is the highest out fi eld wall in professional baseball?

      While Fenway’s Green Monster is without doubt the most famous outfield wall in the sport, it’s not the highest. That honour goes to the Arch Nemesis, the left field wall at Sovereign Bank Stadium in York, Pennsylvania. The park is the home of the York Revolution of the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.

      Sovereign Bank Stadium opened its doors for the 2007 stadium, with the Arch Nemesis measuring 37 feet, eight inches — a mere six inches higher than the Green Monster at Fenway Park.

       When was the fi rst World Series played entirely on arti fi cial turf?

      The World Series had been played on AstroTurf twice before — in 1975 and 1976 — but only one team (the Cincinnati Reds in both series) played in a stadium with an artificial surface. It wasn’t until 1980 that a World Series was played entirely on artificial grass. That year, the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Kansas City Royals, four games to two. Philadelphia had been playing on AstroTurf at Veterans’ Stadium since 1971, and the Royals had been playing on the plastic since Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) was built in 1973.

      Royals Stadium was the only stadium built as a baseball-only facility to use artificial grass. In 1995, as teams around the Majors were moving to more traditional stadiums, real grass was installed, ending the plastic era in Kansas City.

fact or fi ction?

       Did Babe Ruth call his home run in the 1932 World Series?

      Babe Ruth and the New York Yankees rolled into Chicago for Game 3 of the 1932 World Series with a 2–0 series lead. The Babe felt the wrath of Cubs fans upon arrival — and so did his wife. The two were booed in a local restaurant. At the stadium for Game 3, Ruth was heckled mercilessly, particularly after he dropped a fly ball that allowed the tying run to score.

      In the fifth inning, Ruth stepped to the plate against Charley Root. According to the legend, Ruth then raised his arm and pointed to centre field, vowing to hit a home run into the centre field bleachers. On the next pitch, he did just that.

      Did it really happen? In all likelihood, no. Players on both teams have said Ruth never called his shot, and was merely taunting the Cubs bench by pointing out how many strikes he had (and presumably indicating that he wasn’t bothered). Even Ruth denied that he called his shot for years, though later in life he was willing to let the legend thrive.

      So, it makes for a good story, and some fun action in the otherwise terrible movies that have been made about Ruth’s life, but the story is fictional.

       Did the seventh-inning stretch begin when U.S.President William Howard Taft stood during a game?