You’ll come across a lot of direct and vague answers – some say 4, some say 5, some 10, 14 and even 24! Well, that’s a whole range of answers that aren’t even close! So how can we be sure how many laps around a baseball field make a mile? Well let’s just calculate it ourselves- how hard can it be?
To know how many laps around a baseball field is a mile, we’d have to find out the perimeter of a baseball field first, and then do the math (which is pretty straightforward). But baseball fields have extremely varied dimensions.
Even professional Major League Baseball (MLB) fields only have a minimum requirement for dimensions, but otherwise, they are allowed to design their ballpark fences variably. So really, it all depends on which field you are standing in.
Let’s, for the sake of calculating an approximation, take the minimum dimensions of a baseball field (that every Major League Baseball field must meet). For MLB, the centerfield fence must be at least 400 feet from the tip of the home plate, and the right and left field fences must be a minimum of 325 feet in length.
The right and left field fences are straight lines, but the arc length of the circular fence must be calculated. Although it might seem that the field looks like an exact sector cut from a circle or a piece of cake, it is actually not. The arc is part of a circle with a smaller radius of around 250 feet and it covers almost 40% of the circumference of that circle.
To understand this picture better, you can check the diagram of a baseball field given here and also the method for calculating the total perimeter. Using the same method (but larger, standard dimensions), we can do the following calculations:
The circumference of a circle = π (diameter)
So the arc length would be given by = π (diameter) * 40%
Just plug in the values and we get π (500) * 0.40 = 628.32 feet
Adding the right and left fences, the total perimeter of the field would approximately be 628.32 feet + 325 feet + 325 feet = 1278.32 feet.
5280 feet make a mile.
So one would have to cover 5280/1278.32 = 4.13 perimeters or laps of a baseball field to cover a mile. That’s how we reached the answer 4 laps!
If that is confusing, look at it this way. If the perimeter of the field is 1278 feet, how many times would you have to cover 1278 feet to make 5280 feet (a mile)? About 4 times!
How many laps around the diamond would make a mile?
The diamond is impossible to miss as soon as you lay eyes on a baseball field. The home plate, first base, second base, and third base make up the four vertices of the diamond. Sometimes a baseball field is generally called a diamond too.
Although the outfield dimensions vary, the dimensions of the infield, or the diamond as it’s also called, are fixed. The base to base distance is always 90 feet- this is part of the official rules of the game. So if each side is 90 feet and there are 4 sides, one lap around the diamond would be 90 times 4, that is 360 feet.
Since 5280 feet make a mile, we’d need 5280/360 = 14 2/3 or 14.67 laps of the diamond to complete a mile!
This was much easier and more accurate to calculate because the infield dimensions are fixed. Moreover, the base paths (the sides of the diamond) are straight and not curved like the outfield so we do not have to calculate any arc lengths.
In short, when you ask “how many laps around the baseball field (or the ballpark or the diamond) make a mile?”, to get an exact answer you need to specify what field you’re standing in and find out its dimensions, because they vary.
You also need to specify if you’re running around the perimeter of the whole field i.e. the outfield or the infield diamond i.e. base to base. For the outfield, you’d have to cover around 4 laps, and 14 2/3 laps (precisely) on the diamond.
Masahiro Tanaka running 4 laps (or 1 mile!) around the field
Do you have a baseball field nearby where you can go for a jog or your daily run? In that case it is understandable why you were interested in gauging how much distance you cover in each lap. Professional League players often take laps around the field as a part of their regular workout routine.
Masahiro Tanaka, a Japanese pitcher for the New York Yankees in Major League Baseball, after his first workout said that jogging 4 laps around the field was “really hard”!
“Probably what I’ll remember is the four laps at the end. It was really hard,” he said. 4 laps around the George M. Steinbrenner Field (where the Yankees practiced) make up approximately 1 mile, the source says! Just like we calculated.
The basics of a baseball field
If you are new to baseball and still not familiar with what the field plan looks like, you may have a hard time understanding the jargon and calculations we used above. So here are some basics for you to learn. Once you understand the field layout, you’ll understand the rest much better.
As said before, the cutout of a baseball field is unique. While most sports have rectangular, oval or circular fields, the baseball field is like a wedge or a sector of a circle. It resembles a quarter piece of a cake.
The 90-degree corner is where the home plate is. The right and left fences (the radii of the circular sector) which meet at the home plate are called the foul lines.
The foul lines make a right angle with each other (a quarter piece of a circle means 90 degrees) and extend outward, marking the boundary of the field. They are called foul lines because anything hit outside is not considered a hit. Outside the foul lines is where the seats, team dugouts and base coach boxes are. Everything going on there is not part of the game.
Inside the foul lines is where the game is actually played and that is fair territory. This is further divided into two parts: infield and outfield. The infield is the place where the bases are- they make up the diamond shape you see on the field. The infield doesn’t have grass; it is the dirt area.
Infield
The bases or base stations are the four vertices of the diamond (home plate, first base, second base and third base). They are connected by paths called the base paths. The players must run along these paths from base to base after hitting the ball into play. A run is scored if the player completes one circuit (i.e. to first base, then second and then third, and back to home plate) before three strikes (or outs).
The batter’s box is a box bordered off by two rectangles on either side of the home plate. This box is where the hitter must stand.
Right in the middle of the infield diamond is the pitcher’s mound, a slightly raised area where the pitcher must stand and throw the ball to start play.
Outfield
Outside the infield, lies the outfield which is the grassy area, and its boundary is circular or arc shaped. If we were to draw a ray bisecting the baseball field from home plate to the outfield fence, that middle part of the outfield is called centerfield, and the fence behind it is called the centerfield fence. The area towards the right foul line is called the right field and the one to the left is similarly called the left field.
Major League Vs Little League baseball field dimensions
Major League baseball is for professional players. There is also a Little League which is a youth baseball league for children and youngsters. The dimensions of the field also vary with the type of league. For little league baseball, the dimensions would be smaller.
As pointed out earlier, not all dimensions of a field are fixed, so it really depends on the ballpark you are standing in. There are some requirements however which must be met for every field:
- The distance between the bases or the size of the diamond
- The minimum length of the foul lines
- The minimum distance from home plate to the centerfield fence
- The distance from pitcher’s mound to home plate
For Major League Baseball the dimension requirements are:
- The sides of the diamond (base to base) measure 90 feet
- The minimum length of the foul lines is 320 feet
- The minimum distance from home plate to the centerfield fence is 400 feet
- The distance from pitcher’s mound to home plate is 60 feet and 6 inches
For professional baseball, these requirements must be met. Other dimensions can vary.
For Little League Baseball the dimensions are smaller:
- The base-to-base distance is 70 feet
- The distance from the home plate to the centerfield fence is between 200 and 275 feet
- The distance from the pitcher’s mound to home plate is about 50 feet
These are roughly the dimensions followed, however they do vary with every ballpark and also the exact age group or type of league. So, if you were running on the perimeter of a little league field, which are smaller than MLB fields, you’d have to cover more than 4 laps to make a mile!
There are many other levels of play in baseball. You may have heard of Pinto, Pony and high school baseball, to name some. For a more detailed guide to their field dimensions, you can check out this link.
