The San Francisco Giant's old ballpark,
Candlestick Park (aka 3Com Park) was infamous for the high
winds and unexpected gusts in the stadium and on the playing
field. Outfielders have dropped many fly balls because they
misjudged the winds.
The
SF Giants management wanted to build a new stadium in downtown
San Francisco to mitigate the winds. Models of the new PacBell
Park were tested here at the UC Davis Atmospheric Boundary
Layer Wind Tunnel. Wind speeds inside the stadium and on
the field were tested. The preliminary results showed
that the stadium as planned would have wind speeds higher than
that of Candlestick. The solution was to rotate the stadium 90o
counterclockwise. PacBell Park has since been built and the SF Giants started
their 2000 season in their new ballpark.
The
pictures below show different orientations of PacBell Park in
downtown San Francisco.
