Baseball By the Numbers - Random Trivia Answers

• A1) Arizona Diamondbacks. Chase Field is 1,087 feet above sea level, higher than the Metrodome (Minnesota Twins; 992 feet), Turner Field (Atlanta Braves; 928 feet), and Kauffman Stadium (Kansas City Royals; 877 feet).
• A2) New York Mets and New York Yankees. Citi Field is a mere 9.5 miles from Yankee Stadium, while Wrigley Field (Chicago Cubs) is 10.5 miles from U.S. Cellular Field (Chicago White Sox). Despite the creative team naming, Angel Stadium (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) is over 30 miles from Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles Dodgers).
• A3) Seattle Mariners. Safeco Field is 677 miles from Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. The Colorado Rockies in Denver are 558 miles from the Kansas City Royals and 586 miles from the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix.
• A4) Los Angeles Dodgers. Dodger Stadium has a capacity of 56,000 people, topping Yankee Stadium (52,325), Coors Field (Colorado Rockies; 50,445), and Turner Field (Atlanta Braves; 50,091).
• A5) Oakland Athletics. Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum has a capacity of only 35,067, below Tropicana Field (Tampa Bay Rays; 36,973), PNC Park (Pittsburgh Pirates; 38,496), LandShark Stadium (Florida Marlins; 38,560, although the team will be moving to Marlins Ballpark, with a capacity of 37,000 in 2012), and Fenway Park (Boston Red Sox; 39,928).
• A6) North Carolina. Ranked #10 as of July 2008 with an estimated population of 9,222,414, North Carolina edges out New Jersey (#11 at 8,682,661) and Virginia (#12 at 7,769,089).
• A7) San Antonio, Texas. With an estimated population of 1,351,305 in July 2008, San Antonio ranks seventh. State mate Dallas also lacks a team and ranks eighth at 1,279,910. San Jose (#10 at 948,279) makes three top-ten cities without a team.
• A8) 4. The Arizona Diamondbacks (Phoenix), Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, and Colorado Rockies (Denver) all have home stadiums in their state capital. In addition, the Toronto Blue Jays play in the capital of the province of Ontario, and the Washington Nationals play in the U.S. capital.
• A9) National League Central and American League West. Because Interleague play is restricted to a few times each year, the American and National Leagues must each have an even number of teams, so despite having 30 total teams, it's not possible to have six divisions with five teams each. The Astros, Brewers, Cardinals, Cubs, Pirates, and Reds each have a slightly lower chance of winning their division, while the Angels, Athletics, Mariners, and Rangers each have a slightly higher chance.
• A10) The bases. It's very close, but each base is a 15-inch square for an area of 225 square inches, while home plate is an irregular pentagon with sides of 17 inches (top), 8.5 inches (left and right sides), and 12 inches (bottom sides meeting at the corner) for an area of 216.5 square inches (17 * 8.5 + 12 * 12 / 2).
• A11) Shortstop. The shortstop, who gets numbered after the third baseman, is number 6 (six).
• A12) 400. Using a direct line to each base would total 360 feet, but making it a circle increases the distance by 39.859 feet. 400 feet is such a pretty number that it equals the distance to the fence in dead centerfield in ten Major League Baseball parks. The average is about 404 feet, thanks mostly to Minute Maid Park (Houston Astros; 435 feet), Comerica Park (Detroit Tigers; 420 feet), and Coors Field (415 feet).