re: Ballpark Dimensions: Minute Maid vs. Alex Box

The deep alleys help balance out the hitter-friendly areas down the lines. Got a rep as a HR/offensive park early on in large part because Astros pitchers had to adjust from the way they pitched in the Astrodome.

Fly-ball pitchers thrived in the Dome because the ball didn't carry as well as in other parks. The first year the Astros pitchers were in Enron Field (the original name of the park), they were shell-shocked in that the fly balls that were warning-track outs in the Dome were HRs in the new place, especially down the lines.