Arena baseball

Arena Baseball is a version of baseball played indoors when playing outdoors is not an option. Indoor Baseball is played on a smaller field & is played on astroturf or blue turf. The rules are different & the dimensions are different too.
Dimensions
The floor is covered with astro turf or blue turf & is placed all around the indoor field. Rubber bases are placed sixty feet away from each other in the shape of a diamond. Padded walls are placed against the walls on all sides. The pitcher's mound is placed forty feet away from home plate & is placed in between home plate & second base. A yellow curved infield line is placed in front of first, second & third base marking the "Infield Fly" Zone. A yellow curved line is placed in the outfield marking the "Outfield Wall" Zone.
Equipment
1. The bat is made of rubber & may have some tape at the bottom part.
2. Wearing batting gloves is optional for the batters.
3. All infielders must wear leather mitts.
4. The baseball must be a rubber ball that is safe for indoors.
Uniforms
All players on the same team must wear matching uniforms & must have their number and position on their uniforms.
They must also have their last name on the back of their uniform.
Rules of play
Starting the game
The game starts with the toss of the coin. The team that wins the coin toss gets to decide whether to bat, play defense, or gives the choice of the other two to the other team.
Infielding
1. An infielder cannot tag out a runner at any base.
2. An infielder can only tag a baserunner out at home plate.
3. An infielder may throw the ball at a baserunner to get him out.
Outfielding
1(A). When an outfielder says "Deadball" or waves his throwing hand which signals that the baserunner may not move up a base if the outfielder catches the ball.
1(B).The baserunner must be at second or third base for this to work & this only works with one out before the catch.
Domed Major League Baseball stadiums
Houston's Astrodome
Throughout its history, the Astrodome was known as a pitcher's park. The power alleys were never shorter than from the plate; on at least two occasions they were as far as . Over time, it gave up fewer home runs than any other park in the National League. The Astrodome's reputation as a pitcher's park continued even in the mid-1980s, when the fences were moved in closer than the Metrodome.
It was also known for its unusual ground rules. For example, if a ball hit one of the speakers located in foul territory and a fielder caught it, it was an out. Mike Schmidt once hit a towering fly ball that was ruled just a long single after hitting a speaker suspended above the playing field in June 1974. He later said that in most other parks, it would have easily been a home run. Because the roof is very nearly the same color as a baseball, and transmits light, the Metrodome had a far higher error incidence than a normal stadium during day games, so instead of losing a fly ball in the sun, as is common for non-roofed stadiums, fly balls could easily get lost in the ceiling. Unlike most parks built during this time, the Metrodome's baseball configuration had asymmetrical outfield dimensions.
It gave up even more home runs before air conditioning was installed in 1983. Before 1983, the Dome had been nicknamed "the Sweat Box."
The Twins have won two World Series championships in the Metrodome (and winning both Series by winning all four games held at the Dome). The loud noise, white roof, quick turf, and the right-field wall (or "Baggie") can provide a substantial home-field advantage for the Twins.
Seattle's Kingdome
The Kingdome was somewhat problematic as a baseball venue. It was not a multipurpose stadium in the truest sense of the term, but was a football stadium that could convert into a baseball stadium. As a result, the sight lines for baseball left much to be desired. Foul territory was quite roomy, pushing fans far from the action since the bullpens were just over the foul lines. Seats in the upper deck were as far as from the plate.
Despite its cavernous interior, the Kingdome's field dimensions were relatively small. It had a reputation as a hitter's park, especially in the 1990s when Ken Griffey, Jr., Edgar Martínez, Jay Buhner, Alex Rodriguez and other sluggers played there for the Seattle Mariners.
The large number of in-play objects—speakers, roof support wires and streamers—contributed to an "arena baseball" feel. The Kingdome was somewhat improved in 1982 with the addition of a wall in right field nicknamed the "Walla Wall" (after Walla Walla, Washington)," featuring a hand-operated scoreboard. In 1990, new owner Jeff Smulyan added some asymmetrical outfield dimensions.
Montreal's Olympic Stadium
Although the Montreal Expos were Olympic Stadium's primary tenants, it proved to be somewhat problematic as a baseball venue. It employed construction techniques similar to those used in other multipurpose stadiums of the time. As was the case elsewhere where this approach was tried, sight lines for baseball left much to be desired. The sight-line problems were magnified by the fact that Canadian football fields are 30 yards longer than American football fields. To accommodate the wider Canadian football field, the lower boxes were set further back than comparable seats in other stadiums built during this time. The upper deck was one of the highest in the majors.
Before the 1992 season, a major overhaul was done on the stadium's baseball configuration. Home plate was moved closer to the stands and new seats closer to the field were installed. As part of the renovation, several faraway sections of permanent seating beyond the fence were closed, replaced with bleacher seats right behind the outfield fence. Capacity was reduced to 46,000.
Tampa Bay's Tropicana Field
Among the most cited criticisms about the stadium are the four catwalks that hang from the ceiling. The catwalks are part of the dome's support structure. It was built with cable-stayed technology similar to that of the Georgia Dome. It also supports the lighting and speaker systems. Because the dome is tilted toward the outfield, the catwalks are lower in the outfield.
The catwalks are lettered, with the highest inner ring being the A Ring, out to the furthest and lowest, the D Ring. The A Ring is entirely in play, while the B, C and D Rings have yellow posts bolted to them to delineate the relative position of the foul lines. Any ball touching the A Ring, or the in-play portion of the B Ring, can drop for a hit or be caught for an out. The C and D Rings are out of play; if they are struck between the foul poles, then the ball is ruled a home run.
A few hits have been lost as a result of the catwalks. For example, Devil Ray Jonny Gomes was called out during a game against the Toronto Blue Jays on May 12, 2006, when a ball he hit landed in the B Ring and rolled off to be caught by Toronto shortstop John McDonald. By the time it was caught, Gomes was already headed for home plate. Although Rays manager Joe Maddon tried to argue that it should have been at least a ground rule double since it stayed in the B Ring for a while before coming loose, umpires eventually ruled against the Rays and called Gomes out.
On May 26, 2008, Carlos Peña hit a pop-fly to center field that likely would have been caught by Texas Rangers center fielder Josh Hamilton. The ball instead hit the B ring catwalk and did not come down. Peña was mistakenly given a home run, but after deliberation the umpires awarded him a ground rule double. This was the second time this had happened, as José Canseco hit a ball that stuck in the same catwalk on May 2, 1999.
Many players have hit the C and D rings for home runs. The first player to ever hit the rings for a home run was Edgar Martinez of the Seattle Mariners on May 29, 1998. Martinez's home run went off the D ring. Three players before him hit balls that went into the C ring, however at the time, balls hitting the C ring were not ruled a home run. Two days prior to Martinez's home run, the ground rules were changed so that a if ball hit the C ring, it would be called a home run. The first player to hit the rings for a home run in postseason play was Rays third baseman Evan Longoria, who hit the C ring off Javier Vázquez of the Chicago White Sox on October 2, 2008, in the third inning of Game 1 of the 2008 American League Division Series.
Another criticism of the stadium is the drab interior environment, especially early in the (Devil) Rays existence, when the interior was compared to a large warehouse. However, since it was designed specifically with baseball in mind, it is somewhat smaller and the atmosphere is somewhat more intimate than in other domed stadiums, which often are built to also accommodate football games.
The current Rays' Stuart Sternberg-led ownership group has invested several million dollars in recent years to add various amenities and decorations including a larger scoreboard, video wall, catwalk sleeves, an outfield touch-tank featuring cownose rays, the Mountain Dew Extreme Zone featuring a massive sound system and numerous baseball video games, and other miscellaneous improvements to make the facility more attractive and "fan friendly".

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