Sports News for Kids tagged with "AFC West"

How does altitude affect professional athletes? Which baseball stadiums have the highest altitudes?

This article explains how high altitude affects professional athletes, with a focus on baseball players. At higher altitudes, there's less oxygen available, causing athletes to breathe faster, experience quicker fatigue, and need longer recovery times. The body can adapt through a process called acclimatization. In baseball specifically, altitude affects both players and the ball - players tire more quickly while the baseball travels farther and breaking pitches don't curve as much. Coors Field in Denver is the highest Major League Baseball stadium at 5,200 feet above sea level, followed by Chase Field in Phoenix (1,100 feet) and Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles (500 feet). The "Coors Field Effect" results in balls traveling about 10% farther than at sea level because of reduced air resistance. Teams develop specific strategies to account for these altitude effects.