After looking at the webcam I was wondering exactly what the clearance was for the roof and the supports... I am just really turned off by the dead ball situations like in tropicana.

 

P.S. I'm just asking out of curiosity.

I'm guessing the designers were very cognizant of the problems in Tampa.

 

The highest exterior point of the roof itself is 264', but it looks like there is about 40' feet of structural steel support at the center, so the highest interior point will be about the same as Tampa at 225'. The important thing is there won't be any catwalks hanging down.

 

The lowest interior roof-point around the fences will range from about 127' to 157' versus the D ring catwalk as low as 59' in Tampa. A high pop-fly to short center will have about 224' of clearance here versus 181' to the A ring catwalk in Tampa. Big difference.

 

I'll also guess that on average clearance will be 40-50' more than in Tampa, which should pretty much eliminate the problem. Of course, all of this ignores Stanton, who will probably hit parts of the roof that no designer thought humanly possible.

 

The columns only suggest how high the stadium is going to go -- 264 feet at the roof's tallest point, or the equivalent of a 25-story tower. The two sets of columns are of differing heights. The base of the sliding roof, Marlins vice president Claude Delorme noted, will slant from 157 feet on the north down to 127 feet on the south in an attempt to lessen the visual impact on 80-year-old apartment buildings across the street that are just two to four stories tall.

 

http://www.miamihera...ium-taking.html

 

 

The roof begins its 6.5-degree angle slant above second base, where it drops from 225 feet in height to 85 feet above the center field wall.

 

Of the four catwalks located above the Tropicana Field playing field the D ring is the lowest, ranging from 59 feet above center field to 121 feet behind home plate. The C ring ranges in height from 99 feet above CF to 146 feet behind home. The B ring has a range of 142 feet in CF to 173 feet behind home, while the A ring's range is 181 feet in CF to 194 feet behind home.

 

http://www.baseballp...n/tampabay.html

By way of further comparison, Miller Park in Milwaukee has a peak height of 330', which would seem to be overkill. The interior volume of that place is absolutely huge, which increases their heating/cooling costs.

 

The highest exterior point at Minute Maid Park in Houston is only 242' (with the usual structural steel underneath that) and I don't recall any stories about balls hitting the roof structure.

 

It would seem that catwalks hanging 40' down, together with a fairly severe down-slope toward the outfield to cut the total interior volume are the real problem in Tampa.

cool... thanks for the info.

By way of further comparison, Miller Park in Milwaukee has a peak height of 330', which would seem to be overkill. The interior volume of that place is absolutely huge, which increases their heating/cooling costs.

 

The highest exterior point at Minute Maid Park in Houston is only 242' (with the usual structural steel underneath that) and I don't recall any stories about balls hitting the roof structure.

 

It would seem that catwalks hanging 40' down, together with a fairly severe down-slope toward the outfield to cut the total interior volume are the real problem in Tampa.

 

Miller certainly is the oddball roof from visual inspection. It looks exceptionally high.

 

I don't recall there being any incidents in any of the post-Skydome retractable roofs of balls hitting a low ceiling, so I wouldn't expect there to be many issues in the new Marlins park.