Tuesday 29th April 2003
(by Cory Giger)

Everybody thought balls would be flying out in record numbers over the shortened left field wall at Blair County Ballpark this season.
So far, everybody thought wrong.
Through 10 home games, a grand total of one ball has exited the park in left.

Akron's Brian Luderer smoked one to the power alley in the ninth inning Sunday, just to the right of the new bleachers.

With only two exceptions, Curve hitters haven't come close to leaving the yard in left.
"We're getting close," Brett Roneberg said. "I think we'll get one one day."
Roneberg and Shawn Garrett reached the warning track Saturday night, both balls resulting in flyouts.

Garrett's came with two outs and a runner on in the 15th inning and would have given Altoona the win.
"I knew he hit it good, but I've been around this park enough to know you've got to absolutely murder a ball to get it out of here," manager Dale Sveum said.

Preseason estimates had 20-40 more homers flying out to left over the course of a season thanks to fences 10 feet closer because of the seating expansion project.
One fan even suggested in the Mirror's "Voice of the Fan" that all the extra homers would make a joke of the game.

Things may change once the weather heats up, but so far there's been virtually no impact.
"Once it starts warming up, the sun starts shining, I think you'll start seeing the benefits of bringing that fence in," the Curve's Chan Perry said.
"The ball Shawn Garrett hit (Saturday) night, the ball Roneberg hit, those balls are home runs in 80 percent of the parks in this league.
And I wish we were in one of those parks (Saturday) night."

Sveum said this particular club doesn't "really have that many home run hitters on the team, right-handed hitters," so the shorter porch might not benefit the Curve as much as in future years.

Looking back, BCB's always been unkind to home run hitters in April, even when the team's been stacked with sluggers.
The Curve belted eight homers at home the first month of 1999, six in 2000, five in 2001 and eight in 2002.

Altoona's tied for the Eastern League lead with 15 homers this season but will finish April with only three home long balls (by Garrett, Roneberg and Kevin Nicholson).

So April's always been tough, and the warmer months always have produced more homers.
If that trend continues the remaining four months of this season, there should be plenty of chances for fans in the left field bleachers to take home a souvenir.

"Everybody thought there would be more home runs hit, and obviously there will be," Josh Bonifay said.
"When it gets a little bit warmer and the hitters catch up to the pitchers, there's going to be some balls start flying.
Believe it."