Focal length check for baseball stadiums

I'm headed out to a baseball game tomorrow and I was trying to figure out if my lens had enough reach to get some decent shots of the infield and batters from my seat, or if I should just leave it at home.

Does anyone know of a website that has distances from the seats to the infield?

I'll be headed to McAfee Coliseum, by the by.

Thanks in advance!

hmm... interesting thread, i remember seeing also, a rough guide to fl and distance chart somewhere here on POTN

it's like for every 100mm in FL, you get to cover a certain amount of distance from the camera to subject

Not sure if this will help, but it might give you a rough idea.

http://www.tamron.com …cal-length-comparison.php

So your going to see the A's play, thanks for sending Harding to Chicago. You don't say where your seats are or how close you are to the field. Also check the A's website to see what their rules are about bringing in gear.

Go here:

http://oakland.athleti​cs.mlb.com …allpark/seating​_chart.jsp

Print it out enlarged. Mark a piece of paper with one mark on home plate and one on first base. Label te first mark "0" and the second mark "90". Make 4 such marks equally spaced at 90 foot increments. Subdivide each tick mark in half. Write the distances by each tick mark. These would be 45 foot marks. You'll have a ruler marked like this:

0-45-90-135-180-225-270-315-360

Now find your seat and put the first mark on your seat, and you can "measure" distances to all parts of the ballpark.

The assumption is the seating chart is drawn to scale, but there's no reason to think it isn't.

Here's what the view from your seat will look like:

http://oakland.athleti​cs.mlb.com/oak/ballpar​k/seats_3d.jsp

OK, now that's you've done all this work let me burst your bubble: Unless you're sitting in the first couple rows around the infield, ANY lens you take will be too short. You can't possibly bring in a lens that will be too long.

Here's what the A's site says:

So, as in many parks, if it'll fit in the 16x16x8 pack, and you follow the rules above, you're golden. Plus, contrary to many places, you can use the monopod on your EF 400 f/2.8L DO (the only 400 f/2.8 that will fit in this size bag). A 300 f/2.8 should fit in there, though.

thanks for the information!

Assuming it is to scale, it looks like I'll be 45' to first base and about 90' to home plate. The A's are also starting Greg Smith, a leftie, so I'll go for some shots of the pitcher. ^_^