When the Baltimore Orioles decided to change the left-field wall for Oriole Park at Camden Yards last season, it was one of the odder decisions we’ve seen for stadium configurations. In a game that was increasingly trending towards more home runs, the Orioles wanted to make homers harder to come by.
The move to push back the wall by nearly 30 feet and make it five feet taller brought upon an eyesore that fans started calling “Walltimore.”
The wall worked as expected with 57 balls remaining in play last season that would have been home runs in 2021. But most of all, it became nearly impossible for left-handed batters to hit home runs to left field.
That changed on Wednesday.
James Outman is the first left-handed hitter to hit a home run over the new left field wall at Camden Yards pic.twitter.com/76VbRgAZF0
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) July 19, 2023
During the fourth inning of the game between the Dodgers and Orioles, James Outman became the first lefty to hit an opposite-field homer over the new wall. It took 1.5 seasons to get to that point. Out of 297 balls hit 350-plus feet by left-handed batters to left field at Oriole Park, Outman’s was the first to leave the yard.
excellent fun fact here
here's a good way to visualize this…
L: the 297 balls hit 350+ feet by left-handed hitters (before today) at Camden Yards since the wall was moved back before the 2022 season
R: James Outman's HR, which went a projected 414 feet https://t.co/BhHMcZn3dI pic.twitter.com/yINtnFhM5D
— Céspedes Family BBQ (@CespedesBBQ) July 19, 2023
No wonder MLB fans were impressed. It also went to show just how ridiculous that wall really is at Camden Yards.