Padres may shorten fences at Petco Park

The San Diego Padres could finally be removing the term "Petcoed" from the vocabulary of National League hitters.

Padres interim CEO Tom Garfinkel said Tuesday the Padres are officially considering moving in the fences at Petco Park.

"We're open-minded and we're seriously considering it," said Garfinkel. "I do believe it is too extreme right now. It will still be a pitcher's ballpark. But a hitter should be rewarded if he crushes it. And if a team is down 4-0, they should feel there is some hope. It's just too extreme."

Garfinkel's comments Tuesday represent a major change by the Padres, who fell to the Nationals 3-1 Tuesday.

Former CEO Jeff Moorad vowed the outfield dimensions at Petco Park would not be altered as long as he controlled the club. But Moorad resigned as CEO last month after the minority group he led was rebuffed by Major League Baseball in its attempts to be approved as the Padres owners.

Garfinkel said the Padres have already been in contact with MLB about the protocol to be followed for shortening the fences -- primarily in right field and right-center.

"We'd have to submit plans by the end of the season," said Garfinkel, who said the Padres have not decided on the distance that the fences would be shortened. "I don't think a final decision needs to be made until October.

"There are a lot of things to consider. We can't change the air and the atmospheric conditions. This ballpark plays different at night than it does during the day. It plays different in the spring than it does in late summer. We have to get it right. We are studying everything. There are still going to be some nights when the conditions would still be such that it's going to be hard to hit a homer no matter what the distance is to the fences.

"But a solidly hit ball should be rewarded. Baseball is a match between the pitcher and the hitter. We've seen a number of times here where the hitter wins that battle and gets nothing to show for it. It should play fair. Four runs should not be an impossible deficit to overcome."

There have been at least two previous studies made on shortening the fences at Petco Park.

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Padres may shorten fences at Petco Park