Memorial Stadium

405 to Center

Center field at Memorial Stadium measured 405 feet from home plate in its final shape — it had opened far deeper, at 445, on April 15, 1954. That afternoon, more than 46,000 fans watched the Orioles beat the Chicago White Sox 3-1. It was the city's first major league franchise in over 50 years, and the morning had begun with a 90-minute parade from downtown to the stadium, the new Orioles riding convertibles and lobbing plastic baseballs to the crowd. The win briefly moved Baltimore into first place.

The stadium reached major league caliber through a multi-phase reconstruction costing $6.5 million, championed by Mayor Thomas D'Alesandro Jr. It hosted the 1958 All-Star Game. But the place earned its character from two sports, not one.

The Asylum

The Colts sold out 56 consecutive games during their peak years, with as many as 60,000 fans packing in for football. The atmosphere — across both the Orioles and the Colts — was raucous enough that the stadium earned the nickname "The World's Largest Outdoor Insane Asylum." The crowd earned it, and the name stayed.

Even the accidents ran charmed. On December 19, 1976, a Piper Cherokee crashed into the upper deck overlooking the south end zone minutes after a Colts-Steelers playoff game. Four minor injuries — that was the full toll.

The Last Day

The Orioles played their final game at Memorial Stadium on October 6, 1991, losing to the Detroit Tigers 7-1 — while in the visitors' booth, Ernie Harwell called what was then billed as his farewell broadcast for Detroit. After the last out, 78 former Orioles lined up around the infield in a postgame ceremony. When it was over, the grounds crew pulled up home plate, placed it in a stretch limousine under police escort, and delivered it to the Camden Yards construction site minutes later.

Reporting: Wikipedia, Baseball-Reference Bullpen. Park data: MLB StatsAPI and Retrosheet, via the Fever engine.