A Piece of Baseball History on Display Today

   When fans, either on television or at the ballpark, watch a game most of their attention is centered on the pitcher's mound, or at home plate.  The dirt mound at the center of the infield, and the area of dirt where home plate is located are the places in the field that gets everything started.  The game pauses momentarily until the pitcher hurls the ball toward the plate, the batter connects, and all of a sudden everyone on the diamond springs into motion.  Bases are being covered, positions are being backed up, and when that play is over the ball is returned and the fans anxiously watch for the pitcher to start it again.  In Detroit and Arizona, however, fans might notice something different in the infield.  Connecting the bottom of the pitchers mound and the cutout at home plate is a strip of dirt.  Although this was common in the past, and especially in the 19th Century, the only two stadiums in the Major Leagues currently with this feature are Chase Field, the home of the Arizona Diamondbacks, and Comerica Park in Detroit.
   The dirt cutout in the infield, known as a "keyhole" for its shape, was common in 19th Century baseball.  In the 1800's the game of baseball was in the beginning stages and often played on cricket fields.  On a cricket field the central point of action is called the pitch.  This is a clay or dirt strip in the center of the field where the "bowler" and the "batsman" face eachother in a fashion similar to baseball.  The concept of the dirt strip between the pitcher and batter probably just remained part of the early stages of the game as newer stadiums were built. 
  As the game evolved into the 20th Century another theory for the "keyhole" was to protect the high traffic area of the diamond.  As stated earlier the pitcher's mound and home plate area are the focal points during a game, and most of the action occurs there.  In the early 1900's teams had limited funds to pay the players, run the team, and keep the field presentable to the fans.  The dirt strip eliminated the grass from getting worn out during the long season that included many visits to talk with the pitcher, and the fielding of many bunts, as was common during baseball's "Dead Ball Era".  Today groundskeepers are paid a lot of money, and operate advanced machinery to make a professional field look perfect.  The teams have more money to spend, and some ballparks even use artificial turf for the playing surface.
   By 1960, the dirt strip known as a "keyhole" was phased out and became part of the history of  Major League Baseball.  Then, beginning in 1992 with Camden Yards in Baltimore, new stadium designs included features from the past ballparks.  This "retro" look and feel is the reason for the dirt strip in Detroit and Arizona.  It was part of the design of Comerica Park and Chase Field to pay tribute to the throwback diamonds of a different era.  The next time that you catch a game from Arizona or Detroit take notice of the dirt strip between the pitcher's mound and home plate, because this is a piece of baseball's past resurfacing in the game today.