DUGOUT (BASEBALL)

The baseball "dugout" is a team's bench area and is located in foul territory between home plate and either first or third base. There are two dugouts, one for the home team and one for the visiting team. The term dugout refers to the area being slightly depressed below field level, as is common in professional baseball. On community diamonds, where there is no change in ground level, the dugout may just be referred to as the bench. With the exception of relief pitchers in the bullpen, players who are not on the field, and coaches, watch the play from the dugout.
Which team occupies the dugout on the first-base side or the third-base side is purely arbitrary. The Major League Baseball Rulebook is silent on the subject. There are many anecdotal reasons why one dugout is chosen over the other. One is that in the early days of the game the manager also served as the third base coach, so occupying the third base dugout meant less walking for the manager between innings. Contrarily, the thought is that since more close plays occur at first base than third, the first base dugout is preferred. However, the most likely theory is simply that the home team chooses the better clubhouse and the dugout on that side of the field.
In the National League, far more are on the first-base side (10 to 6). In the American League, though, it's split evenly, with seven on each side of the field. Even the two oldest parks still in use differ on this point: the Cubs sit on the third-base side at Wrigley while the Red Sox inhabit the first-base dugout at Fenway. However, the three parks that have opened most recently (Cincinnati, San Diego and Philadelphia) all have the home dugouts on the first-base side. The new Washington Nationals stadium will continue that trend, as the team will move to the first-base side when the park opens in 2008.

Contents

Teams and ballparks with home dugouts on the first base side

Teams and ballparks with home dugouts on the third base side

Teams and ballparks with home dugouts on the first base side

★ Atlanta Braves (Turner Field)

★ Baltimore Orioles (Oriole Park at Camden Yards)

★ Boston Red Sox (Fenway Park)

★ Cincinnati Reds (Great American Ball Park)

★ Colorado Rockies (Coors Field)

★ Florida Marlins (Dolphins Stadium)

★ Houston Astros (Minute Maid Park)

★ Kansas City Royals (Kauffman Stadium)

★ Milwaukee Brewers (Miller Park)

★ New York Mets (Shea Stadium)

★ New York Yankees (Yankee Stadium)

★ Philadelphia Phillies (Citizens Bank Park)

★ San Diego Padres (PETCO Park)

★ Seattle Mariners (Safeco Field)

★ St. Louis Cardinals (Busch Stadium)

★ Tampa Bay Devil Rays (Tropicana Field)

★ Texas Rangers (Ameriquest Field in Arlington)

Teams and ballparks with home dugouts on the third base side

★ Arizona Diamondbacks (Chase Field)

★ Chicago Cubs (Wrigley Field)

★ Chicago White Sox (U.S. Cellular Field)

★ Cleveland Indians (Jacobs Field)

★ Detroit Tigers (Comerica Park)

★ Los Angeles Angels (Angel Stadium of Anaheim)

★ Los Angeles Dodgers (Dodger Stadium)

★ Minnesota Twins (Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome)

★ Oakland A's (McAfee Coliseum)

★ Pittsburgh Pirates (PNC Park)

★ San Francisco Giants (AT&T Park)

★ Toronto Blue Jays (Rogers Centre)

★ Washington Nationals (Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium)