Ohio Doesn’t Know How to Build Ball Parks
Aside form the LeBron era for the Cavs, and the "Major League" movies, Ohio hasn't had a TON of success in professional sports. It's kind of the same on the college level, too (aside from some moderate success from some nutty college in Columbus).
Ever wonder why that is?
Well... it's because they don't know how to build a field, or ballpark. The kids playing outdoor sports in Ohio get so messed up with the conditions of their environment, it ruins their ability to play well on the next level.
Let me give you some examples.
The Rubber Bowl
Unless you're from Akron, you might not really know this place, but it's where the Akron Zips played football until 2008. Plans were made to possibly bring in a USFL team, and maybe turn the Rubber Bowl into an alternative event venue, but the structure of the bowl was deemed unsafe, and all events - including a locally produced hip hop festival - were taken elsewhere.
Well, that just sounds like a old stadium, what's messed up about it?
This one speaks mostly to the "engineering" degrees that some Ohio graduates might have procured. They could only demolish PART of this stadium, as the portion of the bowl built into the hill, is actually structurally necessary to keep Washington Boulevard from collapsing.
So... the remnants remain, and the wall stays. But that's not really a MASSIVE screwup, it's just an oversight (thought one that could ONLY happen in Ohio.)
Where Ohio REALLY gets it wrong, is their baseball fields.
High School Ball Fields
This is where these poor Ohio Kids get REALLY screwed up... High School Baseball.
One for example, Bishop Hartley High School in (again) Columbus. Tik Tok user @Fivepointsvids explains the absurdity with his field measurements of 279' to the left field gap, but '350 feet to center field.
@fivepointsvidsDelivery Truck Field♬ original sound - FivePointsVids
Another Odd Ohio sports enthusiast @davehrus posted about four of the other strangest baseball fields in the state. They include:
- Open Door Christian School in Elyria, which is possibly the smallest baseball field on earth (somehow, first base is only 80 feet from Home Plate)
- Barnesville High School, in Barnesville, that has two COMPLETELY SEPARATE softball backstops and infields out in the left and right field gaps
- Lutheran West High School, in Rocky River, which is built almost like a square, and has an 8-foot pit in the left field gap
- Monroe Central High School, in Woodsfield Ohio. Their Right Field turns into the school's football stadium, making a homerun to Right nearly impossible at 510 feet from home plate.
There's a ton of other examples out there, so it's no wonder that Sports Fans in Ohio are confused, some even LITERALLY nutty because they have NO idea what a normal playing surface looks like!