Baseball Field - Grass Line

The grass line, where the dirt of the infield ends and the grass of the outfield begins, has no special significance to the rules of the game, but it can influence the outcome of a game. Dirt running paths between the bases (and, at one time, between the pitcher and the catcher) have existed since the beginning of the game, although they were not mentioned in the rule books until around 1950, and their specifications are flexible. In addition to providing a running path, the grass lines act as a visual aid so that players, umpires and fans may better judge distance from the center of the diamond. Occasionally the ball may take a tricky bounce off the dirt area or the edge between the dirt and the grass. World Series championships (including 1924, 1960 and 1986) have been decided or heavily influenced by erratic hops of ground balls. In artificial turf stadiums, infield dirt is placed only around the bases and around the pitcher's and batting areas; thus the "grass line" is designated with a white line (the only such current example in Major League Baseball being Toronto's Rogers Centre). The exception is at St. Petersburg's Tropicana Field, where, in spite of artificial turf, standard dirt basepaths are used.