The Rise & Fall of Tal's Hill

Discussing Tal's hill in Houston at Minute Maid Park

[@jayp.6166]

I love ballpark quirks. Theyre one of the reasons that the game of baseball so unique. Tal’s Hill was dope….but I never had to run up it full speed.

[@jasondousett3620]

Exactly. The infield dimensions are the only standards among the various ballparks. Plus, there is no time limit (altho pitch clocks have been introduced) which makes it totally unique amongst the major 4 sports in North America.

[@Spirit0502]

Even if they just made it a bit smaller to tuck away the big pole I think it would be significantly less scary

[@SwashBuckler311]

YES!! ME TOO❕ This was so cool Watching Berkman make plays running up the hill No one did it smoother than Trout 27

[@cale.dennis]

“Could easily rob a homerun standing on top of the hill…” at 436 feet out I think the hill already did that

[@SwashBuckler311]

😁 Tru Dat

[@Moreorlesss996]

They replaced it for a camera in the outfield.

[@randytabor754]

Cry baby LA fan

[@Moreorlesss996]

@@randytabor754 Am i wrong?

[@stanleyford2575]

​@@Moreorlesss996yeah your wrong and a hater

[@Moreorlesss996]

@@stanleyford2575 Haha. Read the report. Asstros cheated.

[@theman1412]

Your current video guy was with the Red Sox in 2018 , and is now with the Dodgers. You want to explain???😊

[@TrocarSlushWeasel]

Ponce de Leon Park in Atlanta once had a magnolia tree out in center that was actually in the field of play until they moved the fences in. Although the stadium is long gone, the tree is still there.

[@BD-1-And-Only]

Crazy. Imagine having to climb a tree to prevent an inside the park home run.

[@thefox47545]

I didn't have an issue with the hill, I had an issue with the FLAG POLE! NOBODY thought that a FLAG POLE IN PLAY was an issue?

[@gonuts4donuts]

It was never really an issue at Tiger Stadium and later Comerica Park. It didn’t last long at Comerica Park though because the left/left centerfield were moved in after Juan Gonzalez complained about the deep dimensions.

[@GizmoBeach]

Wait until you find out about the monuments in old Yankee Stadium. The ones in play out there in Center Field along the warning track? 🗿🗿🗿

[@mattyg4186]

I remember back in the early 2000's Lance Berkman had no issue fielding tals hill

[@antonioreconquistador]

Well thats what made it a problem, the astros had infinitely more time to practice fielding balls in play on the hill than the rest of the league.

[@ItsBySource]

@@antonioreconquistador so do the sox with the green monster, UNFAIR!

[@ba.diecast24]

@@ItsBySourceand the cubs with the ivy

[@SwashBuckler311]

Yes ! That was the best ! Watching Berkman play CF out there ! Trout did it the best though.

[@SwashBuckler311]

@@antonioreconquistador what’s your point That’s called being the home team Aka HomeField Advantage

[@davekimball3610]

The Isotopes park, the Albuquerque minor league affiliate for the Rockies, had the hill removed after the 2022 season "out of concern for player safety" Never heard of any injuries and saw plenty of games played there with nothing bizarre taking place when the ball went that deep.

[@AFNick]

Tal’s hill was great! We need more unique features in ballparks. That’s what makes it cool to visit each of them versus NBA arenas and NFL stadiums which are all essentially the same experience.

[@Brocuzgodlocdunfamdogson]

Imagine watching football played on a field with terrain features. Hills, trees, streams, maybe even a pond. I’d pay good money to see that.

[@SkyQuest2K8]

@@Brocuzgodlocdunfamdogson Steeplechase football, I like it!

[@kevinray9943]

Yea, maybe a couple alligators or tigers on chains in the OF too... Like in the movie Gladiator.

[@havokan45]

In MLB the show 13 the year Houston moved to the AL west i was playing as the Rangers a Houston player hit a ball on to the Hill . The Rangers outfielder i was controlling hurt himself as i dived and caught the ball then as he hit the ground he got hurt .

[@samplott8388]

Wow crazy story.

[@johnisouth6636]

I hate they did that taking away Tals Hill. I love fences with distance like the old days. I commend Baltimore for building the great wall of Baltimore.

[@NoahOfTheBoat]

The remove a hill over safety, yet the brick wall in Wrigley is just fine.

[@arkansasrebel348]

It needs a renovation with a wrecking ball, I have always hated that ballpark…

[@alwoods8010]

Because Wrigley is baseball history and we don't mess with history.

[@bryantsteury8910]

The idea was cool and unique, but seemed like more trouble than it was worth

[@goober7127]

I loved that hill.

[@user-en7qh9jv4b]

I miss that so much!

[@SwashBuckler311]

SAME❕

[@ktbeatty]

Much less likely to get hurt running back full speed without looking, then encountering an uphill slope, than a wall. There were no significant injuries despite the oddity.

[@tex-do1wm]

I miss it!

[@GizmoBeach]

Tal’s Hill was based off major and minor league parks from the past that had such features (Fenway Park had Duffy’s Cliff, the terrace on Chattanooga’s field, etc.) Difference is Tal’s Hill was a mile away, not along Left Field where players would definitely be navigating up and down while chasing after batted balls, deflections, etc.

[@Redsox3600]

I miss this! It was a cool little quirk. I wish they could have kept it around just out of play for safety

[@gsquare6382]

In Forbes Field there was not only a flagpole but also light towers and even the batting cage in the outfield.

[@RetailRipper]

i really liked the hill and pole. loved playing mlb video games at Enron Field.

[@justinhicks306]

How can you do a Tal’s Hill video without mentioning Duffy’s Cliff?

[@Edward_Nebiolo]

My question is why was one of the flag poles in fair territory in the first place?

[@Kiddman32]

I like ballpark quirks... but any slope on a field is stupid and potentially dangerous.

[@ronpeacock9939]

Yeah, get rid of a cool quirk that MIGHT hurt someone.. but lets keep the radar guns that are causing pitchers to throw harder and harder and see many go down every year with multi-season injuries... Nobody ever got hurt on Tal's hill.. which is way less than the number of star pitchers that have gone down this year (and it's still only April) to TJ surgery... classic MLB fix what's not broken but ignore the really broken part... Still, I loved the quirkiness of that feature. A throwback to eras gone past... Ol Yankee stadium prior to the 70's Reno had the flag poles and monument park in play.. I love Wrigley and Fenway (can't stand the Sox), because of the Ivy and the Green Monster.. again.. throwbacks to the ancient history of baseball. These modern parks are all nice and wonderfull, but they have no soul.. nothing unique. They are all copy-cats to others.. Gotta love a new park with something unique.. the parks during WWI had that.. today.. they all might as well be hospitals... all nice and sterile.

[@IRanOutOfPhrases]

Blaming radar guns seems silly. Thats more of an issue for managers to sort out regarding attitudes and mentalities. Radar guns have existed for decades now and have never been a problem before

[@jamiecosgrove1950]

i've gotten a lot of inside the park homeruns there in MLB the show/playstaion. great times.

[@natevart4156]

I’m pretty sure a long time ago Fenway park has something similar but it went the entire way of the green monster in left field. Personally I think think it sounds awesome

[@theman1412]

6:40, Revenue. It’s called the “Bud Light Party Deck” 😊

[@rtstephen]

The home of the Reds, Crosley Field, from 1912 to 1970 had a slope of about15 degrees that went all the way around the outfield wall. It was called the terrace. It was most pronounced in left field starting approximately 20 feet from the wall. Supposedly it served as a sort of warning track.

[@VisualTedium]

Investigate the link between Veterans Stadium-Astroturf and brain cancer

[@Astro_Magnus]

Yordan Alvarez' homer in game 6 of the World Series against the Phillies would have cleared the hill.

[@alitomcbean4646]

You should do a video on the universal DH. Pitchers hitting made the game feel more unique and excititing

[@nelsonsamuelsanchez]

I personally always found it weird that half the league played with different rules basically

[@LoopHoleLeeRoy]

@@nelsonsamuelsanchezBaseball is an asymmetric sport. I liked it because the national league played true baseball instead of mens softball league.

[@irvinglambert9316]

​@nelsonsamuelsanchez It was weird, but why is that bad? It made baseball unique. It's weird that hockey allows interment boxing bouts, yet every other sports league closely polices aggression at any level. Hockey is great for it, though. Sports should embrace what makes them unique instead of making everything an amorphous blob.

[@ljevers]

Idea for an episode, compare grass MLB parks to turf parks

[@SwashBuckler311]

I can’t believe it was still there in 2016 …. I swear it feels like the got rid of it in like 2010 I used to love that H Town had that unique CF It was so cool I’m a REDS Fan and I used to like watching Berkman play Tal’s Hill in CF Berkman’s younh CF play is slept on He used to track some balls …. 🤔

[@ljevers]

Episode idea, highlight the sausage races vs the President races, could Even include the most recent mascots leveling the Presidents

[@joeg5414]

6:15 that's the Isotopes stadium. They're the Rockies AAA team, so the Coors field look makes sense.

[@kgoger]

Carlos Beltran with amazing catch for the Mets

[@mr198221]

Why isn't 'Rise & Fall' by Leeway playing in the background 🤔

[@ADJUDlCATOR]

The game is literally golf that is playable on any field including small ones. It makes complete sense for there to be fearures like this. The fact that the only difference between the ballparks is their boundary is lame. Only the infield should be regulated (90 feet between base etc.)

[@dustinsindledecker154]

It is Richie Sexson not Sexton.

[@illwillrocket]

Local HighSchool has hill in center field… its like 400’… cool feature…😊

[@nacoran]

I'd think it would reduce injuries. Running full speed into a wall hurts players every season. Maybe they could have cut the grade down a little bit but I thought of the hill as an improved warning track. The flag probably was not such a good idea, although it looked nice.

[@crawford323]

If you think this was an out field oddity, look up the original University of Texas outfield. It had a rock outcropping!

[@DutchVanDerLinde-sx1ox]

Some part of me will always miss Tal's hill and Greene's hill being in base all

[@jimsannerud6254]

We had Monument Park in Yankee Stadium. Made life interesting for center fielders. Sadly, that is gone too.

[@ddelong1000]

The loss of this feature was sad; it gave a unique feel to the stadium. Citi Field in New York had a similar situation; the poor, sad hitters felt like the dimensions were cutting down the home runs... I guess it's a tragedy to have a pitcher's park in the league. Baseball nowadays kind of stinks for me (I'm old, I know, but I don't like the goofy rules they have now...the game has lost something.

[@danielcastiglione5328]

The only thing I really didn’t like, was the flag pole in play.

[@oldguysrock2170]

The hill was cool, but that light standard pole was criminally stupid dangerous.

[@gregorykrug8034]

The deep CF dimensions there helped compensate the all of the other dimensions there which are way too shallow. MLB ballparks keep bringing their fences in because they know that a lot of their fans are only casual fans. That is why more emphasis is put on home runs, swimming pools, and other distractions.

[@cgk1276]

No one was ever hurt by this hill or the one that used to be at Isotopes Park, the they just had to get removed for safety reasons. Meanwhile every team in the league develops pitchers to blow their arms out routinely; it’s complete hypocrisy. Quirks like these made the game far more interesting and it’s just another way the game has slowly gotten worse over the years. The hill was such a cool feature and was rarely involved in plays, but when it was it was always super exciting.

[@grxengine]

They put it in because it was unique, yes, but they also wanted to give Craig Biggio a shot a breaking the MLB all-time doubles record.

[@zebrashark23]

They took out the hill in Albuquerque too

[@Tal_Spotting]

As a fellow tal, RIP

[@Guywithnolimbs]

Imagine someone dove into the flag pole

[@newyorknole2225]

Meanwhile Clemson and Wake Forest both have uphill warning tracks

[@joedimaggio3687]

What was the point of the hill? Ballpark quirks should not be something that was purposely designed to be quirky.

[@willstacy9685]

Exactly like Petco park with the warehouse in left field that’s the foul pole

[@lousanto1054]

TAL l, appropriately enough, stands for Transoceanic Abort Landing. Appropriately enough, on Shuttle launches, Houston's Mission Control would report this to the crew about 2 and a half minutes into launch. 🤣

[@CordovaMage]

They should make a stadium where the warning track is just a moat and every month they fill it with a new vile substance. Might as well, its about as disrespectful to the players as that hill was and just like the hill the fans would love it as it would add a unique trait to an otherwise boring sport desperate to keep fans interested with player hostile gimmicks.

[@bullwinkle2380]

Looks like the grassy knoll at Dealey Plaza!!!

[@mashtatoueful]

Tal's Hill never had to live through the trash can years. boom boom

[@billcook4768]

The poll was a bad idea, but I loved the hill.

[@nunyabussiness4054]

Quirks that are necessary in a ballpark are fun and unique. Tal's hill was just a bad attempt at giving the stadium personality.

[@fredfrederickson]

DG you should do more overviews of weird/quirky/new minor league baseball stadiums like you said they are a lot more unique and interesting than some MLB stadiums

[@itsNRC]

Michigan St baseball has a hill too

[@reesejabs1895]

Why the hell was it even put it in center field anyway? It was so dumb.

[@thefox47545]

To be unique. Apparently the train wasn't unique enough.

[@daniellarsen889]

Straight out of looney tunes. There's also a trap door in the right field gap.

[@willisskull2676]

It's a cool idea, but think about it for 5 minutes and it's clearly a bad idea. Injuries, taking longer to field, and adds unpredictability. It adds randomness instead of being about skill. So you could have a good hit turn bad or a bad hit turn good regardless of skill. I think we can all agree it's not the worst thing to be out in center field (the camera).

[@fuhkerz]

Yeah it does seem kind of wacky. May as well start adding targets just beyond the wall for "2 runs" and "10 runs" if we are just adding randomness. And some small painted circles in the outfield that equal 3 outs if a ball lands in one.

[@willisskull2676]

@@fuhkerz Not gonna lie, bonus targets sound fun for another kind of game, but I'm kind of a stickler for keeping Baseball pure. I realize the game always changes, but a lot of the rule changes mess with the game. If it's not pitch clocks, it would be steroids or greenies, so it's probably never been pure.

[@MapleTreeatdawn]

Not saying it’s bad, but modern day ballpark quirks are contrived.

[@Brandon-qd2lb]

Any homers over it?

[@easyp3930]

Who’s Tal?

[@krishdasgupta7313]

No coincidence Astros started winning after the hill was gone

[@soapsoapwhatissoap]

That wasn't a warning track it was a "you're fucked" track 🤣

[@samseven6446]

Dave Roberts robbed Lance Berkman off a home run on Tal's Hill way back in the day. 2003 I believe.

[@tmiklos4]

Fences moving in makes baseball a worse game.. Triples are so much more exciting than are home runs. Deeper fields are so much better. And way to many things have been done to baseball to make it safer for players. Sorry i like quirky fields. Flag poles in play was cool. Hills. And deep center field. More inside the park home runs occured in the polo grounds, that is exciting. The only walk off inside the park grand slam home run was in forbs field by the great Roberto Clemente. Now that is baseball. And he ran through a stop sign for a 9 - 8 win.

[@spinlok3943]

I say good riddance to that hill, I hated it.

[@Matt-uh3fu]

What team did you play for?

[@notsosilentmajority1]

I enjoy different ballpark nuances and quirks but Tal's Hill was a hazard and it robbed batters of legitimate home runs. I'd rather have something like the Green Monster, and I'm not a Red Sox fan.

[@Sky_Watchers]

Yessir

[@Matt-uh3fu]

Pine trees?What?

[@imdbtruth]

I thought it was neat, wish they kept it.

[@Nesquick1121]

Imagine how many homeruns theyve lost to that hill lol

[@supaflykai]

I really don't understand the love for Tal's hill. It's absurd, it's dangerous, it looks stupid, and it serves no real purpose. You start off by pointing out the Astros became a powerhouse AFTER it was gone, and what a shame that it never got to be in any playoff series. Did you consider that MAYBE it was actually a hindrance for the team and caused unnecessary losses for the team that had to play the majority of their games there?

[@ElectricMoonlight]

I guess this is a hot take but I never liked Tal's hill, and I never understood why anyone, player or fan, would want useless gimmicks on the field of play.

[@samplott8388]

Damnit dude, it’s pronounced “quirk” not “quork.” Jesus.

[@Veryburntcookie]

Huh nice

[@traviscoates6878]

Tals hill stunk! Everyone agrees. But, that is why I love baseball. It’s the only sport where each field of play is uniquely different from the next

[@jparso3]

Baltimores Wall

[@wahoo_punch7361]

Greene's Hill vs Tal's Hill🤔

[@paddycowhey3406]

"cork"

[@AlexRamirez-dh3ot]

Of course it’s the trashtros

[@ugiswrong]

I hate Tal’s hill since it seems to make d. ginger happy

[@JusSomeGuyOnInternet]

You keep saying it's unfortunate that it's gone period tails hill was the worst feature in baseball stadiums thank God it's gone period

[@poshko41]

Tal's Hill. Tal's Hill. TAL'S HILL.

[@mikey9905]

Glad it’s gone. There’s no reason to have obstacles in the field of play in any sport.

[@IYAOYAS24]

Might want to no watch golf

[@mikey9905]

@@IYAOYAS24 never have and likely ever will. 💤 😴

[@stevecarey4740]

CTE poll lol 😂

[@de-fault_de-fault]

This kind of manufactured “oh so quirky!” nonsense is why I actually never cared for the era of postmodern pastiche ballparks that started with Camden Yards. Actual old ballparks had weird features out of necessity, not because baseball wanted to be more like Disneyland.

[@joeylawn36111]

Tripping hazard.

[@_sniper2305]

Gimmicky.

[@barbaracaroll]

Tal's hill was leading to injuries

[@vw8886]

Was never a good idea.

[@Geelow_Swingin]

Astros cheating in which every way they can 😂😂😂😂

[@FrizzUSA]

Tal's Hill was the most stupid thing I've seen in over 50 years of watching MLB. The Crawford boxes have a terrible offset in left field. Love my 'stros, but not the ballpark. How about just normal fields???