Joe DiMaggio

How Do Major League Baseball Teams Determine their home dugout?

Why do Major League Baseball teams choose the 3rd or 1st base side dugout at their home stadium? Are there rules for this? Or is it just random? Meaning whether the dugout is on the 1st or 3rd base side. Are there rules for this? Or are the teams free to choose on their own?

Public Comments

1. I am not a 100% positive on this but it could have something to do with the stadium location and which its facing and things like that. But hey that is just a guess.
2. I think it is always on the first base side....but I am not an expert.
3. The home team chooses the side it wants, because they want the visiting team the more uncomfortable side like the sun in their eyes. Or the wooden bench instead of the posh bench.
4. Sorry for the cut and paste job, but here is a more than adequate answer from the website below: There is no right or wrong answer as to whether the home dugout should be on the first-base side or the third-base side. The major League Baseball Rulebook is silent on the subject. Therefore, let's examine where Major League dugouts are located these days. In the National League, far more are on the first-base side (11 to 5). 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. Can a trend be spotted, though? I think so: the four parks that have opened most recently (Cincinnati, San Diego, Philadelphia and St. Louis) all have the home dugouts on the first-base side.
5. The owner decides which one he wants usually the better locker room is home.
6. The home team always has the first base side dugout. It doesnt matter if the home wants the third base one due to sun, etc.
7. There are no rules, but it's not random. The architect will have designed one clubhouse to be larger than the other, and which one will depend on the rest of the design of the stadium. The home team get the larger clubhouse, and therefore the dugout that connects to that clubhouse.