hello
been trying to find this answer for a long time.
see if anyone here knows.
in major league parks, why are some home dugouts along the 3rd base line, and others along the first base line?
assuming the home team can choose, why would the a's, for example, choose third? while the giants, for example, choose first?

There is no real answer. Just a matter of preferance. Could be the mgr wants to penalize the batters for making an out and having them run all the way across the field with their head down. G.

Sometimes, it's a more practical reason. For instance, at the Metrodome, there are left field lower deck seats but no right field lower deck seats. Therefore it makes sense to have the Twins bullpen (and thus the dugout) on the third-base side, so the most fans can see the home bullpen.

P-Sz

Our local youth league follows OBR even as far as "home team picks which dugout they want." Now I realize most MLB parks don't currently have some of the oddities found in youth league parks but they once did.
As mentioned earlier, some parks offer a better view of the bullpen. In others one dugout may have a leaky roof or be smaller. Maybe one has more/less exposure to the sun which may or may not be desired. All part of the homefield advantage.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Geneva">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by number 26:
hello
been trying to find this answer for a long time.
see if anyone here knows.
in major league parks, why are some home dugouts along the 3rd base line, and others along the first base line?
assuming the home team can choose, why would the a's, for example, choose third? while the giants, for example, choose first?

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

i personally belive it all depends on where the sun is durning most of the games. I know i would rather sit in the shad rather than the sun.