document_title: All Eyez on Me (film)

question_text: who played biggie smalls in all eyez on me

text: All Eyez on Me (film)

text: Plot

text: At the Clinton Correctional Facility in 1995, a documentary filmmaker arrives to interview Tupac Shakur. In flashback to 1971, Tupac's mother, Afeni Shakur and other Black Panther Party members are released from prison following acquittal. From an early age, Tupac, instilled with black pride, witnesses multiple injustices in his neighborhood. His stepfather, Mutulu, a revolutionary, is caught by the FBI for an armored-truck robbery and murder. As Tupac gets older, he distances himself from his mother's revolutionary ideals. He attends the Baltimore School for the Arts, where he becomes friends with Jada Pinkett.

text: Tupac's music career begins when he joins Digital Underground for their hit "Same Song". Under manager Leila Steinberg, he begins to have hip-hop albums produced. Although his music becomes popular, some songs' controversial lyrics cause tensions between him and his record producers. Tupac begins acting in movies such as Juice, as well as collaborating with performers including Biggie Smalls. He generates both praise and controversy.

text: Tupac finds himself beaten by police officers over jaywalking. Another time, after he and a friend intervene when two white off-duty officers men assault a black man, Tupac is arrested for shooting at the cops. Tupac develops a contentious relationship with drug dealer and music partner Nigel. In 1993, Tupac goes on trial for rape and harassment charges. On November 30, 1994, he is attacked by three men in the lobby of Quad Recording Studios, is shot five times before the men flee, and is hospitalized. The following day, Tupac is found not guilty of rape, but found guilty of illegal touching, and sentenced to eighteen months in prison.

text: While in prison, Tupac hears Biggie's song "Who Shot Ya?", and interprets it as a diss track bragging about Biggie's alleged involvement in his shooting. Tupac, who is assaulted by two guards while in prison, eventually is released and signs to Death Row Records under Suge Knight. Tupac and label-mate Dr. Dre work on the hit song "California Love". He releases the track "Hit Em Up" as a response to "Who Shot Ya?" in which Tupac brags about supposedly having an affair with Biggie's wife Faith Evans. Tupac parts ways with Death Row to launch his own company. Later, Suge offers Tupac a chance to become partners, and Tupac agrees to head Death Row's East Coast operations.

text: On September 7, 1996, Tupac, Suge, and others are leaving the Mike Tyson vs. Bruce Seldon boxing match at the MGM Grand Las Vegas. They confront the gang member who had jumped a friend, and Tupac knocks him to the ground, leading to a free-for-all. Tupac stops by his hotel to change clothes, and tells Kidada he will return in an hour. With Suge in his car, Tupac is at the intersection of Flamingo Road and Koval Lane when a Cadillac pulls alongside Tupac's BMW and shoots Tupac multiple times before fleeing the scene. Onscreen text states that Tupac died six days later at age 25. His murder remains unsolved.

text: Cast

text:
Demetrius Shipp Jr. as Tupac Shakur[5][6]
Danai Gurira as Afeni Shakur,[7] Tupac’s mother, a political activist and member of the Black Panther Party.
Lauren Cohan as Leila Steinberg,[8] Tupac’s mentor.
Jamie Hector as Mutulu Shakur,[9] Tupac’s stepfather.
Annie Ilonzeh as Kidada Jones,[10] engaged to Tupac at the time of his death.
Jamal Woolard as The Notorious B.I.G.,[5][6] Tupac’s friend turned rival.
Kat Graham as Jada Pinkett,[11] a friend of Tupac from the Baltimore School for the Arts.
Dominic L. Santana as Suge Knight,[12] a record producer.
Grace Gibson as Faith Evans,[13] Biggie Smalls’s wife and singer.
Lian Amado as Angie Martinez, radio personality, rapper, and actress.
Stefon Washington as Puff Daddy
Chris Clarke as Shock G,[14][15] the lead vocalist for the hip hop group Digital Underground.
Money-B as himself,[16] member of Digital Underground.
Clifton Powell as Floyd,[17] inmate at Clinton Correctional Facility.
Johnell Young as Ray Luv,[17] Tupac’s friend.
Jermel Howard as Mopreme Shakur
Azad Arnaud as Daz Dillinger
Jarrett Ellis as Snoop Dogg[18]
Keith Robinson as Atron Gregory,[19] TNT Records founder.
Rayan Lawrence as Treach[20]
James Hatter III as Yaki Kadafi
Jermaine Carter as Hussein Fatal
E.D.I. Mean as himself
Young Noble as himself
DeRay Davis as Legs
Harold House Moore as Dr. Dre
Hill Harper as Journalist[21]
Cory Hardrict as Nigel aka Haitian Jack[22]
Phil Armijo as Johnny "J"
Deshawn Wayne as Frank Alexander

text: Production

text: Development

text: On February 10, 2011, it was announced that Morgan Creek Productions was developing, and would finance and produce, Tupac, a biographical film about rap legend Tupac Shakur, which would follow his entire life, from growing up in East Harlem to becoming a legendary songwriter and hip-hop artist, to his death in Las Vegas at the age of 25.[23] Antoine Fuqua was attached as the director of the film, and the script was written by Steven Bagatourian, Stephen J. Rivele, and Christopher Wilkinson.[23] James G. Robinson and David C. Robinson were set to produce the film, along with Program Pictures' L.T. Hutton, and Tupac's mother Afeni Shakur was set as executive producer, with production initially scheduled to begin that summer. On September 19, 2013, Emmett/Furla/Oasis Films came on board to co-finance and co-produce the $45 million-budgeted film, along with Morgan Creek.[24][24] On February 12, 2014, John Singleton signed on to rewrite, direct and produce the film,[25] and on April 16, 2014, Open Road Films acquired the United States distribution rights.[26] Ed Gonzalez, Jeremy Haft, and Singleton wrote the then-latest draft of the script.[26] On April 7, 2015, it was revealed that Singleton had exited the film due to major creative differences, while Carl Franklin was being eyed to direct instead.[27] On October 28, 2015, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Emmett/Furla/Oasis had sued Morgan Creek over $10 million for breaking the companies' co-production agreement, signed in September 2013.[28] In the agreement, terms included not raising the production budget above $30 million, mutual approval for the lead actor's selection, a filming schedule, and agreements on distribution and sales.[28] Randall Emmett and George Furla also stated that they had all first signed a distribution deal with Open Road, which Morgan Creek rejected, and that Morgan Creek had inked a new deal with Open Road without mutual approval.[28]

text: Casting

text: On November 30, 2015, it was reported that music director Benny Boom would direct the film, replacing Franklin.[29] In early December 2015, the film's title was confirmed to be All Eyez On Me.[30] Newcomer Demetrius Shipp, Jr. was set to play Tupac. Jamal Woolard joined the film to play The Notorious B.I.G., Tupac's friend turned rival, reprising his starring role in the 2009 film Notorious.[5][6] On January 11, 2016, Danai Gurira was added to the film's cast to play Tupac's mother Afeni Shakur, a political activist and member of the Black Panther Party.[7] Variety reported the next day that Kat Graham had signed on to play Jada Pinkett, a friend of Tupac from the Baltimore School for the Arts.[11] It was later revealed that Dominic L. Santana had been cast as record producer Suge Knight.[12]

text: On January 13, Jamie Hector signed on to play Mutulu Shakur, Tupac's stepfather.[9] On January 15, Lauren Cohan joined the cast to play Leila Steinberg, a key figure in Tupac's life, as his mentor.[8] Money B appeared in the film as himself, Tupac's coworker at Digital Underground,[16] while Clifton Powell was cast as Floyd, an inmate at the Clinton Correctional Facility, and Johnell Young as Tupac's close friend Ray Luv.[17] On January 19, TheWrap reported that Grace Gibson had been cast to play Biggie Smalls' wife, Faith Evans,[13] and on January 22, 2016, Keith Robinson was cast as Atron Gregory, a TNT Records founder, who first helped Tupac become a dancer and a solo artist.[19] Annie Ilonzeh was added to the cast in February 2016 to play Kidada Jones, who was engaged to Tupac at the time of his death.[10]

text: Filming

text: Principal photography on the film began in mid-December 2015 in Atlanta, Georgia.[5][6][31] Filming wrapped on April 12, 2016, in Las Vegas, Nevada.[32][33]

text: Marketing

text: On June 16, 2016, on what would have been Shakur's 45th birthday, a teaser trailer for the film was released,[34] and a second trailer premiered on September 13, 2016, the 20th anniversary of Shakur's death.[35] The film's release date was set as June 16, 2017. On February 10, 2017, a third teaser trailer was released, confirming Summit, Morgan Creek, Program Pictures, and Codeblack Films as producers and distributors.[36] On April 6, 2017, a fourth trailer was released.

text: No official soundtrack album was released to accompany the film.

text: Reception

text: Box office

text: All Eyez on Me grossed $44.8 million in the United States and Canada, and $10 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $54.8 million, against a production budget of $40 million.[3]

text: In North America, All Eyez on Me was released on June 16, 2017, alongside Rough Night, 47 Meters Down and Cars 3, and was projected to gross $17–20 million from 2,471 theatres in its opening weekend.[37] It took in $12.8 million on Friday (including $3.1 million from Thursday night previews), increasing weekend estimates to $31 million. It ended up debuting to $26.4 million, finishing 3rd at the box office, behind Cars 3 ($53.7 million) and Wonder Woman ($41.3 million). Deadline.com attributed the film's success to the release corresponding with Tupac's birthday, as well as to audience interest in the subject matter, following the success of rap biopic Straight Outta Compton in 2015; 47% of the opening weekend audience was black, 25% Hispanic, and 19% white.[2]

text: Despite its opening weekend success, the film declined 78% to $5.8 million in its second weekend, the 16th largest such decline in history.[38] In its third weekend, the film, which had dropped down to 1,258 theatres, declined another 68.6% to $1.8 million, finishing 11th at the box office.[39]

text: Critical response

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 17%, based on 81 reviews, with an average rating of 4.3/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Despite Demetrius Shipp Jr.'s fine lead performance, All Eyez on Me is mostly a surface-skimming, by-the-numbers biopic of a larger-than-life icon."[40] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating, the film has a weighted average score of 38 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews."[41] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale, and comScore reported an 82% overall positive score.[2]

text: Glenn Kenny of The New York Times gave the film a negative review, saying: "Almost all the dialogue is that flat-footed. It’s a stark contrast to the almost always vivid power of Shakur’s own words, which could be profoundly empathetic and pettily profane."[42] Owen Gleiberman of Variety wrote: "Comprehensive but sketchy, richly atmospheric but often under-dramatized, it is not, in the end, a very good movie (there are a few scenes, like Tupac’s initial meeting with Ted Field of Interscope Records, that are embarrassingly bad). Yet it’s highly worth seeing because in its volatility and hunger, and the desperation of its violence, it captures something about the space in which Tupac Shakur lived: a place that wanted to be all about pride and power, but was really about flying over the abyss."[43]

text: Historical accuracy

text: On her Twitter account, Jada Pinkett Smith stated that the film contained inaccuracies about her relationship with Tupac, and why he left for Los Angeles. Smith specified that Tupac never read the poem he read to her character in the film, and that she had no knowledge that it even existed until it was published in his book. She also stated that she never attended one of Tupac's shows at his request, and that there was no backstage argument. She did, however, praise the performances of Shipp and Graham.[44] Both Sean Combs and Suge Knight gave blessings to the film, praising their respective portrayals.[45]


document_title: World War Z (film)

question_text: in world war z what was the cure

question_tokens: in world war z what was the cure

root

text: World War Z (film)

text: Plot[edit]

text: Former UN employee Gerry Lane, his wife Karin and their two daughters are in heavy Philadelphia traffic when the city is overrun by zombies. As chaos spreads, the Lanes escape to Newark, New Jersey and take refuge in an apartment, home to a couple with a young son, Tommy. UN Deputy Secretary-General Thierry Umutoni—an old friend of Gerry's—sends a helicopter that extracts the Lanes and Tommy to a U.S. Navy vessel in the Atlantic where scientists and military personnel are analyzing the worldwide outbreaks. Dr. Andrew Fassbach posits that the plague is a virus and that development of a vaccine depends on finding the origin. Gerry reluctantly agrees to help Fassbach find the outbreak's source after it is made clear that he and his family will be removed from the ship if he does not.

tag: p

text: Gerry and Fassbach fly to Camp Humphreys, a military base in South Korea, where they are attacked on arrival by zombies. Turning to re-enter the aircraft, Fassbach slips, falls and accidentally discharges his gun, killing himself. After being rescued by the base's surviving personnel, led by Captain Speke, Gerry learns that the infection was introduced to the base by its doctor, who was ultimately incinerated by a soldier with a lame leg whom the infected ignored. A former CIA operative imprisoned at the base for selling weapons to North Korea (to help them fight the infection) tells Gerry to go to Jerusalem, where he says a safe zone has been maintained by the Israeli Mossad since before the outbreak's official acknowledgement. As Gerry and his team bike back to their aircraft, zombies attack, kill several soldiers and infect Captain Speke, who commits suicide to prevent himself from turning. Gerry and his pilot escape.

text: In Jerusalem, Gerry meets Mossad chief Jurgen Warmbrunn, who explains that months earlier, the Mossad had intercepted an Indian military message claiming that Indian troops were fighting the rakshasa, or "dead spirits". Israel had thereupon quarantined Jerusalem, erecting huge walls around it. Just as Jurgen shows Gerry that Israel is allowing survivors to take refuge in the city, loud celebratory singing from refugees prompts zombies to scale the walls and attack. Jurgen orders some Israeli soldiers to escort Gerry back to his plane. On the way, Gerry notices zombies ignoring an emaciated boy. Soon after, one of Gerry's escorts, a soldier who identifies herself only as "Segen", is bitten in the hand, which Gerry quickly amputates to stop her turning. Gerry and Segen escape on a commercial airliner as Jerusalem is overrun, and Israel seeks to protect its remaining borders.

text: Gerry contacts Thierry, and the airliner is diverted to a World Health Organization (WHO) facility outside Cardiff, Wales. When a stowaway zombie attacks in mid-air, Gerry uses a grenade to blow the infected out of the aircraft, but this also causes them to crash. Gerry is injured, but both he and Segen survive. They proceed to the WHO facility, where Gerry loses consciousness. He awakens three days later and explains to the remaining WHO staff a theory he has, based on the people he has seen the zombies ignore: the infected do not bite the seriously injured or terminally ill since they would be unsuitable hosts for viral reproduction. He suggests that they test this by deliberately infecting somebody with a pathogen from the facility, but the pathogens are stored in a wing already overrun by zombies. Gerry, Segen and the lead WHO doctor go to get a pathogen. As they fight their way through, they are separated; Gerry continues to the pathogen vault while Segen and the doctor return to the main building. A zombie corners Gerry inside the vault, prompting him to inject himself with an unknown pathogen and open the vault, thereby testing his theory. The zombie ignores him, as do those he encounters while returning to the main building. Everybody rejoices at Gerry's success.

text: Gerry and his family are reunited in a safe zone at Freeport, Nova Scotia. A "vaccine", derived from deadly pathogens, is developed and issued to survivors battling the infected, acting as a kind of camouflage. The vaccine also helps survivors to reach quarantine zones. Human offensives begin against the zombies, and hope is restored. "This isn't the end," Gerry comments, "Not even close. Our war has just begun."

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Brad Pitt as Gerry Lane, a former United Nations investigator with experience investigating in dangerous war zones.
Mireille Enos as Karin Lane, Gerry's wife.
Daniella Kertesz as "Segen" an Israeli soldier who accompanies Gerry during their escape from Israel.
James Badge Dale as Captain Speke, a soldier stationed at Camp Humphreys in South Korea.
Ludi Boeken as Jurgen Warmbrunn, the Director of Mossad; responsible for preparing Israel's pre-emptive defenses.
Matthew Fox as a U.S. Air Force Pararescueman sent by Umutoni to rescue the Lanes in Newark.
Fana Mokoena as Thierry Umutoni, the U.N. Deputy Secretary General.
David Morse as an imprisoned CIA operative who realized the threat and sold guns to North Korea.
Elyes Gabel as virologist Dr. Andrew Fassbach
David Andrews as a US Naval Commander
Pierfrancesco Favino as a doctor, World Health Organization (WHO)
Peter Capaldi as a doctor, WHO
Ruth Negga as a doctor, WHO
Moritz Bleibtreu as a doctor, WHO
Sterling Jerins as Constance Lane, the younger Lane daughter.
Michiel Huisman as Ellis, a soldier stationed at Camp Humphreys in South Korea.

tag: ul

text: Production[edit]

text: Development[edit]

text:
"This whole thing started because I just wanted to do a film that my boys could see before they turned 18 — one that they would like, anyways. And they love a zombie."

— Pitt on his involvement in the film[8]

tag: div

text: After a bidding war with Leonardo DiCaprio's production company Appian Way, Brad Pitt's Plan B Entertainment secured the screen rights to the novel in 2007.[9] The first screenplay was written by Babylon 5 and Rising Stars creator J. Michael Straczynski, who identified the challenge in adapting the work as "creating a main character out of a book that reads as a UN report on the zombie wars."[10] Marc Forster signed on to direct, and described the film as reminiscent of 1970s conspiracy thrillers like All the President's Men.[11] Straczynski identified 2002 spy film The Bourne Identity as an appropriate comparison, and noted that the film would have a large international scope which maintained the political emphasis.[12] When asked about his involvement with the film, author Max Brooks stated that he had "zero control", but favored a role for Brad Pitt,[13] and expressed approval for Straczynski as screenwriter.[14][15] Brooks said: "I can't give it away, but Straczynski found a way to tie it all together. The last draft I read was amazing."[16]

text: An early script was leaked onto the internet in March 2008, leading to a review by Ain't It Cool News which called it "[not] just a good adaptation of a difficult book [but] a genre-defining piece of work that could well see us all arguing about whether or not a zombie movie qualifies as 'Best Picture' material".[17] The script was well-enough respected to find a place on the 2007 Black List of "most liked" screenplays not yet produced.[18] The Ain't It Cool News review also noted the film appears stylistically similar to Children of Men, following Gerry Lane as he travels the post-war world and interviews survivors of the zombie war who are "starting to wonder if survival is a victory of any kind."[17] Straczynski had hoped that the film would begin production by the start of 2009.[12] In March 2009, Forster said that the script was still in development and he was not sure if World War Z would be his next film.[19] Later in March, rumors surfaced that production offices were set up and the film was in early pre-production.[20] In June 2009, Marc Forster told an interviewer that the film would be delayed, stating that the film's script still needs a lot of development and is "still far from realization".[21]

text: In July 2009, Brooks revealed that the script was being re-written by Matthew Michael Carnahan. Brooks believed that this "show[ed] [the producer's] confidence in this project" because of the amount of money that was being invested in it.[22] Paramount Pictures and UTV Motion Pictures announced at the 2010 Comic-Con that Forster was set as director, and Brad Pitt was confirmed to play the lead role.[23] In March 2011, it was reported that Paramount was searching for co-financier, and would likely pull the plug on the adaptation without one.[24] The article also stated that "an eleventh-hour effort is being made to court frequent Paramount co-financier David Ellison." A week later, it was reported that "hot and heavy talks are going on with David Ellison's Skydance and as many as two other financiers."[25]

text: Pre-production[edit]

text: Pre-production began in April 2011 with Robert Richardson announced as the cinematographer.[26] In the same month it was reported that filming locations would include Pinewood Studios and London, England.[27] Also in April, Mireille Enos was cast as Gerry Lane's wife and mother of their two children.[28] In June 2011, James Badge Dale entered negotiations to join the film as an American soldier who tries to alert authorities that the zombie threat is real.[29] It was also reported that filming would begin in Malta in July 2011 and would encompass Valletta and The Three Cities.[30] A few days later Matthew Fox and Ed Harris entered talks while Julia Levy-Boeken was set to join the film.[31] It was also reported that filming would also take place in Glasgow, Scotland in August 2011.[32] Glasgow would double as Philadelphia, "with false shop fronts being constructed and American cars on the roads."[33] The city was reportedly chosen after "many months looking for the perfect city centre location to play an important part in the film."[32] Philadelphia was passed on due to "uncertainties about state tax credits for filmmakers."[34] Filming was originally planned to take place in Royal Tunbridge Wells, England before moving to Glasgow.[35] Later in June, visual effects house Cinesite announced that it would work on "a significant amount of shots".[36] At the end of the month it was reported that neither Matthew Fox nor Ed Harris would be starring in the film despite previous reports: Fox had a scheduling conflict stemming from his prior commitment to star in Alex Cross with Tyler Perry at Summit Entertainment.[37] Fox was later spotted, filming scenes in Falmouth, Cornwall.[38]

text: Filming[edit]

text: On a budget of $125 million,[24] World War Z began principal photography in July 2011 in Malta, with the first images of production being released a few days later.[39] Filming was scheduled to move to Glasgow, Scotland in August with the production company looking to recruit 2,000 local extras for the shoot.[40] At least 3,000 people showed up at a casting call in Glasgow on July 9, hoping for the opportunity to appear in a scene set in a financial district in Philadelphia.[41] Scenes were also shot in Falmouth, Cornwall.[42] Also in July 2011, Game of Thrones actor Elyes Gabel was cast as a character named Fassbach.[43]

text: In August 2011, Bryan Cranston entered negotiations to join the film in a "small but flashy" role but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts. Also in August, filming was set to take place along a road on the perimeter of the Grangemouth Refinery in Grangemouth, Scotland. The location was chosen for the length of the road which is crucial to the shot.[44] A few days later Paramount announced the film would be released on December 21, 2012.[45] Later in the same month, filming began in Glasgow. The location manager for the film said Glasgow had been chosen because of its architecture, wide roads, and grid layout.[46] Scenes were also filmed aboard the Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship RFA Argus, before the Glasgow shoot. The ship was turned into the "USS Madison", which involved stenciling a new pennant number on to the funnel, as well as adding some "Americanism" to the superstructure. Steven McMenemy, the Argus's navigator said, "The ship sailed and we were joined by four small catamarans which were being used as markers for the cameras, so that warships could be added in with CGI later."[47] In October 2011, David Morse was cast as a "prisoner living in an abandoned jail."[48]

text: The filmmakers initially intended to film a climactic battle scene set in Russia, and the crew moved to Budapest to film it there.[49] Filming in Budapest commenced on the evening of October 10, 2011.[50] That morning, the Hungarian Counter Terrorism Centre raided the warehouse where guns had been delivered for use as filming props.[50] The 85 assault rifles, sniper rifles, and handguns had been flown into Budapest overnight on a private aircraft, but the film's producers had failed to clear the delivery with Hungarian authorities, and while the import documentation indicated that the weapons had been disabled, all were found to be fully functional.[50][51] On February 10, 2012, the charges were dropped after investigators were unable to identify exactly which "organization or person" had "ownership rights"; therefore they could not "establish which party was criminally liable".[52]

text: Post-production[edit]

text: In May 2012, production returned to Budapest for seven weeks of additional shooting.[53] The following month, screenwriter Damon Lindelof was hired to rewrite the film's third act with reshoots scheduled to begin in September or October 2012.[54] However, Lindelof, who also reworked Prometheus and co-wrote Star Trek Into Darkness, did not have time to script the new ending and in July 2012, Paramount hired Lindelof's Lost partner, Drew Goddard.[55] Lindelof explained there were inefficiencies in the script in relation to the shooting, which started before the script was finalized thus making the ending "abrupt and incoherent" and was missing a large chunk of footage. Lindelof presented two options to executives, who ultimately chose to shoot 30 to 40 minutes of additional footage to make a coherent ending. Goddard later told Creative Screenwriting, "To me the big lesson of World War Z was that Paramount, Plan B and Brad Pitt simply said, 'Let's take the time to make this movie the best version of the movie before we put it on the screen for audience.' That doesn't happen a lot. A lot of times they just throw the movie out there and say, 'We'll make all our money opening weekend and then the movie will go away.' I came away from it thinking, 'Why don't we do this on more movies?'"[56]

text: The re-shoots coupled with other overages caused the budget to balloon to around $190 million, which shocked Paramount president Marc Evans.[4][5][57] Several of the scenes shot in Budapest, including a large-scale battle with the zombies in Moscow's Red Square,[58] were dropped from the final cut in order to water down the film's political undertones, and steer it towards a more generally friendly summer blockbuster.[59] The climactic battle scene in Russia, for which there was 12 minutes of footage, had Pitt's character fighting through zombies more like "a warrior hero" than "the sympathetic family man" of the earlier acts. The second-unit director, Simon Crane, said, "It wasn't character-driven anymore... [The filmmakers] really needed to think about what they wanted to do with the third act."[49] Additional scenes were also filmed at the Pfizer building at Discovery Park in Sandwich, Kent for scenes where Gerry tries to find a cure for the zombie pandemic.[60]

text: In March 2013, it was reported that Paramount changed a scene in the film in which the characters speculate that the zombie outbreak originated in mainland China in hopes of landing a distribution deal in the country.[61] An executive familiar with upcoming releases in China later told The Wrap in June 2013 that a cut of the film was rejected by Chinese censors. A Paramount executive contended that he was "unaware of any rejection", explaining, "We have submitted one version and have yet to receive a response."[62]

text: Music[edit]

text: In December 2011, it was reported that Marco Beltrami had signed on to score World War Z.[63] In May 2013, the British rock band Muse posted a video on their YouTube channel, hinting that they would be contributing to the soundtrack of World War Z; the instrumental-dubstep versions of the songs "The 2nd Law: Isolated System" and "Follow Me" (produced by the electronic band Nero )[64][65] were used.[66] In June, Warner Bros. Records released the soundtrack album for the film, which featured the original score composed by Beltrami.[67]

text:
World War Z: Music from the Motion Picture

Soundtrack album by Marco Beltrami

Released
June 18, 2013

Genre
Classical

Length
44:09

Label
Warner Bros. Records

tag: table

text:
Professional ratings

Review scores

Source
Rating

Movie Wave

Filmtracks

text:
World War Z: Music from the Motion Picture

No.
Title
Length

1.
"Philadelphia"
4:03

2.
"The Lane Family"
2:47

3.
"Ninja Quiet"
2:54

4.
"Searching for Clues"
5:33

5.
"NJ Mart"
4:01

6.
"Zombies in Coach"
3:43

7.
"Hand Off!"
2:49

8.
"No Teeth No Bite"
3:25

9.
"The Salvation Gates"
4:24

10.
"Wales"
5:22

11.
"Like a River Around a Rock"
5:08

Total length:
44:09

text: Release[edit]

text: World War Z was initially scheduled for release by Paramount and Skydance on December 21, 2012, but in March 2012 it was pushed back to June 21, 2013. Paramount elected to release Jack Reacher on the December 2012 date.[45][68] The world premiere of World War Z was held at the Empire Cinema in Leicester Square, London on June 2, 2013.[69] British rock band Muse, who contributed toward the film's soundtrack, performed at the World War Z post-premiere concert at the Horse Guards Parade, to help promote the film.[70] On June 6, Pitt attended screenings of the film in Atlanta, Philadelphia, Chicago and Austin all in one day.[71] The film was chosen to open the 35th Moscow International Film Festival.[72] World War Z was released exclusively to Glasgow's Grosvenor Cinema in Ashton Lane on June 19, two days before it was launched worldwide.[73]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Box office[edit]

text: World War Z grossed $202.4 million in North America, and $337.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $540 million.[6] Variety called it a bona-fide box office hit.[74]

text: In North America, World War Z earned $25.20 million on its opening Friday,[75] including $3.6 million from Thursday night and midnight shows.[76] It went on to finish in second place behind Monsters University during its opening weekend with $66.41 million.[77] This was the second-largest opening weekend for a film that did not debut in first place (behind The Day After Tomorrow),[78] the largest opening weekend for a film starring Brad Pitt[77] and the sixth-largest opening among films released in June.[79]

text: In other territories, the film earned $5.7 million on its opening day (Thursday, June 20, 2013)[76] and $45.8 million on its opening weekend, ranking in third place.[77]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, World War Z has a 66% approval rating, based on 262 reviews, with an average rating of 6.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "It's uneven and diverges from the source book, but World War Z still brings smart, fast-moving thrills and a solid performance from Brad Pitt to the zombie genre."[80] Metacritic, which uses a weighted mean, assigned a score of 63 out of 100, based on reviews from 46 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[81]

text: Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film a 3.5 out of 4, saying "It's entertaining as hell" and it provides "nearly non-stop action". Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film a 3 out of 4, saying that "the suspense is killer". Henry Barnes of The Guardian considered World War Z an "attempt at large-scale seriousness" in the zombie genre, which resulted in a "punchy, if conventional action thriller."[82] Writing for Variety, Scott Foundas thought the film to be a "surprisingly smart, gripping and imaginative addition to the zombie-movie canon", which shows "few visible signs of the massive rewrites, reshoots and other post-production patchwork."[83] Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter opined that "Brad Pitt delivers a capable performance in an immersive apocalyptic spectacle about a global zombie uprising."[84] A. O. Scott of The New York Times said, "[It] does not try to extend the boundaries of commercial entertainment but does what it can to find interesting ways to pass the time within them."[85] Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times remarked, "World War Z plays a bit like a series of separate films and the juncture where the new final act was grafted onto the proceedings is unmistakable, but unless you knew about the film's troubled past, you'd never guess it existed."[86]

text: Conversely, Joe Neumaier of The New York Daily News said that World War Z "is no summer thriller. It's an anemic actioner that fosters excitement like dead limbs as it lumbers toward a conclusion."[87] Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph thought that the film had been affected by its troubled development, observing that "the final product has an elaborate uselessness about it", in a film that has "no heart to be found amid the guts."[88] Alonso Duralde of The Wrap said, "For all its effectiveness at portraying the horror of possible human extinction, the film's actual humans are so soulless that this could just as well be the movie version of the video game Plants vs. Zombies."[89]

text: Awards[edit]

text:
List of awards and nominations

Year
Award
Category
Nominee
Result

2014
Young Artist Award[90]
Best Leading Young Actress in a Feature Film
Abigail Hargrove
Nominated

2014
Saturn Award[91]
Best Thriller Film
World War Z
Won

text: Home media[edit]

text: The film was released on Blu-ray Disc and DVD on September 17, 2013. The Blu-ray disc contains an unrated cut.[92] It adds seven minutes of additional footage featuring moderate amounts of blood, gore and violence. Some scenes that are shown in cinemas are also extended.

text: Video game[edit]

text: A video game tie-in survival horror game, World War Z, was developed by Phosphor Games Studio and released for the iOS mobile platforms in May 2013. The game is a spin-off of the film, being set in Denver, Kyoto, and Paris, and featuring an entirely different set of characters.[93]

text: In December 2017, Saber Interactive and Paramount announced they were developing a four-player video game to be released in 2018 for PlayStation 4, Windows PC, and Xbox One. The game will include missions set around the world.[94][95]

text: Sequel[edit]

text: In January 2012, director Forster and Paramount said that "They each view World War Z as a trilogy that would have the grounded, gun-metal realism of Matt Damon's Jason Bourne series tethered to the unsettling end-times vibe of AMC's The Walking Dead".[96] Plans for future installments were shelved due to the film's production troubles.[97]

text: In June 2013, after the successful opening of World War Z, Paramount announced that it was moving ahead with a sequel.[97] In December 2013, it was reported that Juan Antonio Bayona had been chosen to direct the film.[98] In May 2014, Steven Knight was set to write the script.[99] In May 2015, it was announced that the film would be released on June 9, 2017,[100] but in January 2016, Paramount announced that director Bayona left the project due to other commitments.[101] In August 2016, Variety reported that the film was not yet in production and that David Fincher had entered negotiations to be the director, and in April 2017 it was reported Fincher was close to a deal to sign on.[102][103] On February 8, 2017, Paramount announced that the sequel has still not started filming and would not be released until 2018 or possibly even 2019.[104] On June 24, 2017, David Fincher was confirmed by Paramount as the director of the sequel, with Brad Pitt returning to his role.[105] The film is slated to start filming in fall of 2018. [106]


document_title: 2019 NBA All-Star Game

question_text: where is the next nba all star game going to be

text: 2019 NBA All-Star Game

text:
2019 NBA All-Star Game

Date
February 17, 2019

Arena
Spectrum Center

City
Charlotte, North Carolina

Halftime show
TBD

Network
TNT
TBS (as all-star game)

Announcers
Marv Albert, Reggie Miller and Chris Webber

NBA All-Star Game

< 2018
2020 >

text: The 2019 NBA All-Star Game will be an exhibition basketball game played on February 17, 2019. It will be the 68th edition of the event. This will be the 2nd time the format will not be East/West. The game will be held at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, home of the Charlotte Hornets.[1] Charlotte was announced as host on May 24, 2017. It will be the second time that Charlotte will host the All-Star Game, the first time was in 1991, at the Hornets' previous home arena Charlotte Coliseum.[2] The game was supposed to be played in Charlotte in 2017, but was moved to New Orleans because of controversy surrounding the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act. The game will be televised by TNT for the 17th straight year.


document_title: Baseball field

question_text: how high is a pitcher's mound in mlb

question_tokens: how high is a pitcher 's mound in mlb

text: Baseball field

text: Specifications[edit]

text: The starting point for much of the action on the field is home plate (officially "home base"), which is a five-sided slab of whitened rubber, 17 inches (43 cm) square with two of the corners removed so that one edge is 17 inches long, two adjacent sides are 8.5 inches (22 cm) and the remaining two sides are 12 inches (30 cm) and set at an angle to make a point. The plate is set into the ground such that its surface is level with the surrounding ground. Adjacent to each of the two parallel 8.5-inch sides is a batter's box. The point of home plate where the two 12-inch sides meet at right angles is at one corner of a 90-foot (27.43 m) square. The other three corners of the square, in counterclockwise order from home plate, are called first, second, and third base. Three canvas or rubber bases 15 inches (38 cm) square and 3–5 inches (7.6–12.7 cm) in thickness made of soft material mark the three bases.

text: Near the center of the square is an artificial hill known as the pitcher's mound, atop which is a white rubber slab known as the pitcher's plate, colloquially the "rubber." The specifications for the pitcher's mound are described below.

text: All the bases, including home plate, lie entirely within fair territory. Thus, any batted ball that touches those bases must necessarily be in fair territory. While the first and third base bags are placed so that they lie inside the 90-foot square formed by the bases, the second base bag is placed so that its center (unlike first, third and home) coincides exactly with the "point" of the ninety-foot square. Thus, although the "points" of the bases are 90 feet apart, the physical distance between each successive pair of base markers is closer to 88 feet (26.8 m).[2]

text: The lines from home plate to first and third bases extend to the nearest fence, stand or other obstruction and are called the foul lines. The portion of the playing field between (and including) the foul lines is fair territory; the rest is "foul territory." The area within the square formed by the bases is officially called the infield, though colloquially this term also includes fair territory in the vicinity of the square; fair territory outside the infield is known as the outfield. Most baseball fields are enclosed with a fence that marks the outer edge of the outfield. The fence is usually set at a distance ranging from 300 to 420 feet (90 to 130 m) from home plate. Most professional and college baseball fields have a right and left foul pole. These poles are at the intersection of the foul lines and the respective ends of the outfield fence and, unless otherwise specified within the ground rules, lie in fair territory. Thus, a batted ball that passes over the outfield wall in flight and touches the foul pole is a fair ball and the batter is awarded a home run.

text: First base[edit]

text: First base is the first of four bases that must be touched by a player on the batting team in order to score a run. Unlike when an offensive player reaches second or third base, it is permissible for a batter-runner to overrun first base without being in jeopardy of being put out. After contact is made with the base, the batter-runner may slow down and return to first base at his leisure, so long as he makes no move or attempt to advance to second base.

text: The first baseman is the defensive player responsible for the area near first base. A professional first baseman is often a slow runner and tall.[citation needed]  A tall first baseman presents a large target to which other fielders can throw, and his height gives him a larger range in reaching and catching errant throws. Players who are left-handed are marginally preferable for first base because: first, it is easier for a left-handed fielder to catch a pick-off throw from the pitcher and tag the baserunner; and, second, it is easier for a left handed thrower to make the throw to second base to start a 3–6–3, 3–6–4, or a 3–6–1 double play.[citation needed] Also, a right-handed first baseman must, when setting himself up to receive a throw from an infielder, execute a half-pivot near the base; this is a move that a left-hander need not make (this advantage is very marginal, however). There are three infield positions that can only effectively be occupied by right-handed players: 2nd base, 3rd base, and shortstop. This is because of the time it takes to pivot and set to throw. It takes a left-handed thrower more time to make that pivot and in the fast-paced major league game, that time is critical. As a result, there are fewer positions a left-handed player can occupy, and if that player is not fast, the outfield may not be a good fit.

text: In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the first baseman is assigned the number 3.

text: Second base[edit]

text: Second base is the second of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a base runner in order to score a run for that player's team. Second base is typically defended by the second baseman and the shortstop. Second base is also known as the keystone sack. A runner on second base is said to be in "scoring position," owing to the high likelihood of reaching home plate and scoring a run from second base on most base hits. Since second is the farthest base from home plate, it is the most common target of base stealing.

text: Ideally, the second baseman and shortstop possess quick hands and feet and the ability to release the ball rapidly and with accuracy. One will usually cover second base when the other attempts to field the ball. Both players must communicate well to be able to make a double play. Particular agility is required of the second baseman in double play situations, which usually forces the player to throw towards first while his momentum carries him in the opposite direction. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the second baseman is assigned the number 4, and the shortstop 6.

text: Third base[edit]

text: Third base is the third of four bases a base runner must touch in a counterclockwise succession in order to score a run. Many batted balls that result in the batter being put out (such as a sacrifice fly) may nevertheless allow a runner to reach home plate and score a run from third base, provided that the third and final out is not recorded before he can do so. A runner on third base is therefore particularly valuable to the batting team when fewer than two outs have been recorded.

text: The third baseman is the defensive player whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base. A third baseman ideally possesses quick reaction to batted balls and a strong arm to make the long throw to first base. The distance from 3rd to 1st is about 127 feet (39 m). In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the third baseman is assigned the number 5.

text: Home plate[edit]

text: Home plate, formally designated home base in the rules, is the final base that a player must touch to score. Unlike the other bases, home plate is a five-sided slab of whitened rubber that is set at ground level. The use of rubber was developed by Robert Keating, who pitched one game for the 1887 Baltimore Orioles. Previously—and more dangerously—the plate was made of stone, iron, or wood.[3]

text: The dimensions of home plate are 17 inches (43 cm) across the front, 8.5 inches (22 cm) down each side, with a triangular rear of two sides of 12 inches (30 cm). The rear edges are at 45 degrees to the sides, making a point at the back.[1] The plate is white and surrounded by a black strip 3⁄4 inch (1.9 cm) in width. The plate sits entirely in "fair" territory, with the two rear edges aligned with the right and left field foul lines. The length and angle requirements for home plate mandate that it is not a regular pentagon; it is a 17 by 8.5 inches rectangle with an isosceles triangle of base 17 inches and equal sides of 12 inches attached to the back.

text: 50 to 100 feet (15 to 30 meters) behind home plate is the backstop, which is a wall/fence that will stop wild pitches, passed balls, and foul balls. In enclosed stadiums, the backstop is often composed of a lower part, which is like any other part of the wall, and an upper netting to protect spectators seated behind it; in recreational baseball fields, there is usually a tall chain-link fence, including an angled top section, composing the entire backstop.

text: Batter's box and catcher's box[edit]

text: The batter's box is the place where the batter stands when ready to receive a pitch from the pitcher. It is usually drawn in chalk on the dirt surrounding home plate, and the insides of the boxes are watered down before each game.

text: The chalk lines delineating the two foul lines are rarely extended through the batter's boxes. However, those lines exist conceptually for the purpose of judging a batted ball fair or foul. In addition, inside edges of the batter's boxes are often not laid-in with chalk. Similarly, though not marked, those lines continue to exist for the purpose of the rules pertaining to the batter's box and the batter's position relative thereto.

text: There are two batter's boxes, one on each side of home plate. The batter's boxes are 4 feet (1.22 m) wide and 6 feet (1.83 m) long. The batter's boxes are centered lengthwise at the center of home plate with the inside line of each batter's box 6 inches (15 cm) from the near edge of home plate. A right-handed batter would stand in the batter's box on the left side of home plate from the perspective of the catcher and umpire. A left-handed batter would stand in the batter's box to their right. A batter may only occupy one batter's box at a time and may not legally leave the batter's box after the pitcher has come set or has started his windup. Should the batter wish to leave the batter's box once the pitcher has engaged the rubber, he must first ask the umpire for time-out. Time will not be granted if the pitcher has already started his pitching motion. For playing rules relating to the batter's box, see Rules 6.05 and 6.06 of the Official Baseball Rules.

text: Foul poles[edit]

text: Foul poles, if present, help umpires judge whether a fly ball hit above the fence line is foul (out of play) or fair (a home run). The poles are a vertical extension of the foul lines at the edge of the field of play. The outer edge of the foul lines and foul poles define foul territory. Both the lines and the poles are in fair territory, in contrast to American football and basketball, where the lines marking the playing boundaries are out of bounds. The minimum distance to hit a home run (along either foul line) is set by baseball rules, generally at 325 feet (99 m).[4]

text: Before 1920,[citation needed] the foul lines extended indefinitely; a batter was awarded a home run only if a fly ball out of the field was fair where it landed, or "when last seen" by the umpire. Now, a batted ball that leaves the field in flight is judged fair or foul at the point it leaves the field. Thus, such a fly ball passing on the fair side of a foul pole, or hitting a foul pole, is a home run regardless of where the ball goes thereafter.

text: Foul poles are typically much higher than the top of the outfield fence or wall, and often have a narrow screen running along the fair side of the pole. This further aids the umpires' judgment, as a ball that bounces off this screen is a home run. It can still be a difficult call, especially in ballparks with no outfield stands behind the poles to provide perspective. Wrigley Field is notorious for arguments over long, curving flies down a foul line (most notably in left field) that sail higher than the foul pole.

text: At Major League Baseball fields, foul poles are usually yellow. Those at Citi Field are orange. At the Rogers Centre, there are no foul poles, but large nets suspended from the roof that serve the same purpose. At Petco Park, there is no foul pole in left field; the pole's function is served by a yellow metal strip along the corner of the Western Metal Supply Co. building.

text: Pitcher's mound[edit]

text: In roughly the middle of the square, equidistant between first and third base, and a few feet closer to home plate than to second base, is a low artificial hill called the pitcher's mound. This is where the pitcher stands when throwing the pitch. Atop the mound is a white rubber slab, called the pitcher's plate or pitcher's rubber. It measures 6 inches (15 cm) front-to-back and 2 feet (61 cm) across, the front of which is exactly 60 feet 6 inches (18.44 m) from the rear point of home plate. This peculiar distance was set by the rule makers in 1893, not due to a clerical or surveying error as popular myth has it, but intentionally (further details under History).

text: In Major League Baseball, a regulation mound is 18 feet (5.5 m) in diameter, with the center 59 feet (18 m) from the rear point of home plate, on the line between home plate and second base. The front edge of the pitcher's plate or rubber is 18 inches (46 cm) behind the center of the mound, making the front edge's midpoint 60 feet 6 inches from the rear point of home plate. Six inches (15 cm) in front of the pitcher's rubber the mound begins to slope downward. The top of the rubber is to be no higher than ten inches (25 cm) above home plate. From 1903 through 1968, this height limit was set at 15 inches (38 cm), but was often slightly higher, sometimes as high as 20 inches (51 cm), especially for teams that emphasized pitching, such as the Los Angeles Dodgers, who were reputed to have the highest mound in the majors.

text: A pitcher will push off the rubber with his foot in order to gain velocity toward home plate when pitching. In addition, a higher mound generally favors the pitcher. With the height advantage, the pitcher gains more leverage and can put more downward velocity on the ball, making it more difficult for the batter to strike the ball squarely with the bat. The lowering of the mound in 1969 was intended to "increase the batting" once again, as pitching had become increasingly dominant, reaching its peak the prior year; 1968 is known among baseball historians as "The Year of the Pitcher." This restrictive rule apparently did its job, contributing to the hitting surge of modern baseball.

text: A pitcher's mound is difficult for groundskeepers to maintain. Usually before every game it is watered down to keep the dust from spreading. On youth and amateur baseball fields, the mound may be much different from the rule book definition due to erosion and repair attempts. Even in the major leagues, each mound gains its own character, as pitchers are allowed to kick away pieces of dirt in their way, thereby sculpting the mound a bit to their preference.

text: The pitcher may keep a rosin bag on the rear of the mound to dry off his hands. Major League Baseball teams are also permitted cleat cleaners on the back of the mound. This may be a flat grate-style plate, or simply a hand tool such as a piece of wood used to remove mud and dirt from cleats. These items are allowed to remain on the backside of the mound at the discretion of the umpire, thus reducing the probability that they will affect a live play.[5]

text: Baseline[edit]

text: A baseline is the straight line between two adjacent bases. Baselines are not drawn on the field, although the foul lines serve to mark the baseline between home plate and first base, and between third base and home.

text: Running baseline[edit]

text: Generally, base runners are not required to follow the baseline. A base runner seeking to advance more than one base typically "rounds" the base, following a more circular path. However, a base runner's left-right motion is constrained when the defense tries to tag him. At the moment the defense begins the attempt, the baserunner's running baseline is established as a direct line from his current position to the base he is trying for. A runner straying more than three feet (1 m) away from this baseline to avoid a tag may be called out.

text: Running lane[edit]

text: Beginning halfway between home and first base, and ending at first base, there is a second chalk line to the right of the foul line. This second line and the part of the foul line it runs parallel to, form the running lane that defines the path in which a batter-runner must run as he is advancing to first base. Rule 6.05(k) of the Official Baseball Rules states that, if a batter-runner running to first base runs outside the running lane, and "in doing so" interferes with the fielder taking the throw at first, then the batter-runner is automatically out. First base itself is not located in the running lane, but Rule 6.05 lets the batter-runner leave the running lane "by means of a step, stride or slide in the immediate vicinity of first base" to step on first base.[6]

text: Grass line[edit]

text: The grass line, where the dirt of the infield ends and the grass of the outfield begins, has no special significance to the rules of the game, but it can influence the outcome of a game. Dirt running paths between the bases (and, at one time and still in some parks, between the pitcher and the catcher) have existed since the beginning of the game, although they were not mentioned in the rule books until around 1950, and their specifications are flexible. In addition to providing a running path, the grass lines act as a visual aid so that players, umpires and fans may better judge distance from the center of the diamond. Occasionally the ball may take a tricky bounce off the dirt area or the edge between the dirt and the grass. Multiple World Series championships (including 1924, 1960 and 1986) have been decided or heavily influenced by erratic hops of ground balls.

text: In artificial turf stadiums, infield dirt was originally only placed around the bases and around the pitcher's and batting areas, which are referred to as "sliding pits."  In this configuration, the "grass line" is usually designated with a white arc. Among Major League Baseball fields, Rogers Centre was the last stadium to maintain this type of configuration and was reconfigured with a full dirt infield starting in the 2016 MLB season.[7]

text: In some college baseball parks with artificial turf fields, the entire field (along with possibly the pitcher's mound) is made up of turf, with parts of the field mainly containing dirt instead merely being clay-colored turf.

text: Outfield[edit]

text: The outfield is made from thick grass or artificial turf. It is where the outfielders play. The positions to play in the outfield are right, center, and left field (named in relation to the batter's position; thus left field is beyond third base and right field is beyond first base). Outfields vary in size and shape depending on the overall size and shape of the playing field. The outfield stretches from the infield to the outfield wall and it contains the warning track. Outfields especially vary from Little League to Major League fields. Little League outfields vary more in size than Major League outfields. Outfields often differ from infields in the specific type of grass used, but most Major League outfields are grass.[8]

text: Warning track[edit]

text: The warning track is the strip of dirt at the edges of the baseball field (especially in front of the home run fence and along the left and right sides of a field). Because the warning track's color and feel differ from the grass field, a fielder can remain focused on a fly ball near the fence and measure his proximity to the fence while attempting to catch the ball safely.

text: A warning track's width is not specified in the rules. It is generally designed to give about three steps of warning to the highest-level players using the field. Typical widths run from about six feet for Little League fields to about 10–15 feet (3.0–4.6 meters) for college- or professional-level play. A warning track this wide also lets groundskeepers avoid driving maintenance vehicles on the grass.

text: The track can be composed of finely ground rock particles such as cinders, which is why announcer Bob Wolff called it the "cinder path" rather than the "warning track."

text: The idea of a warning track originated in Yankee Stadium, where an actual running track was built for use in track and field events. When ballpark designers saw how the track helped fielders, it soon became a feature of every ballpark.

text: Single-minded fielders often crash into a wall trying to make a catch despite the warning track. For this reason, outfield walls are typically padded for extra safety. Wrigley Field's brick wall is covered only by ivy, which is not especially soft. However, there are pads on the walls of the tight left and right field corners in foul ground.

text: Warning-track power is a derogatory term for a batter who seems to have just enough power to hit the ball to the warning track for an out, but not enough to hit a home run. The term more generally refers to someone or something that is almost but not quite good enough for something.

text: Outfield wall[edit]

text: The outfield wall or outfield fence is the wall or fence that marks the outer boundary of the outfield. A ball passing over the wall is dead; if it passes over the wall in fair territory while in flight, it is a home run. The official rules do not specify the shape, height, or composition of the wall, or a specific mandatory distance from home plate (though Major League Baseball mandates a minimum distance of 250 feet (76 m) and recommends a minimum distance of 320 feet (98 m) at the foul poles and 400 feet (120 m) at center field). As a result, baseball fields can vary greatly along those lines. The wall has numbers affixed or painted on it that denote the distance from that point on the wall to home plate. In most modern major league ballparks, the wall is made of some hard material (e.g., concrete, plywood, sheet metal) with padding on the field side to protect players who may collide with the wall at high speed while trying to make a play. Chain link fencing may also be incorporated into the wall in areas where the wall needs to be transparent, e.g., an outfield bullpen, a spectator area behind the wall, or to protect a scoreboard incorporated into the wall. Many ballparks feature a yellow line denoting the top of the wall to aid umpires in judging whether the ball passed over the wall or if the ball is fair or foul.

text: Bullpen[edit]

text:
The bullpen (sometimes referred to as simply "the 'pen") is the area where pitchers warm up before entering a game. Depending on the ballpark, it may be situated in foul territory along the baselines or just beyond the outfield fence. Relief pitchers usually wait in the bullpen when they have yet to play in a game, rather than in the dugout with the rest of the team. The starting pitcher also makes his final pregame warmups in the bullpen. Managers can call coaches in the bullpen on an in-house telephone from the dugout to tell a certain pitcher to begin his warmup tosses.
"Bullpen" is also used metonymically to describe a team's collection of relief pitchers.

text: On-deck circles[edit]

text: There are two on-deck circles in the field, one for each team, positioned in foul ground between home plate and the respective teams' benches. They are technically known as next-batter's boxes. The on-deck circle is where the next scheduled batter, or "on-deck" batter, warms up while waiting for the current batter to finish his turn. The on-deck circle is either an area composed of bare dirt; a plain circle painted onto artificial turf; or often, especially at the professional level, a mat made from artificial material, with the team or league logo painted onto it.

text: Coach's boxes[edit]

text: The coach's boxes, located behind first and third base, are where the first and third base coaches are supposed to stand, although coaches often stand outside the box. This is permissible as long as the coach does not interfere with play and the opposing team does not object (in which case the umpire shall ensure that all coaches on both teams must abide by the boundaries of the coach's boxes). The coach's boxes are marked with chalk or paint. In the early days of baseball, the term "coacher's box" was used, as "coach" was taken to be a verb. As the term "coach" evolved into a noun, the name of the box also changed.

text: History[edit]

text: This section  possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. (May 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: The basic layout of the diamond has been little changed since the original Knickerbocker Rules of the 1840s. The distance between bases was already established as 90 feet (27.43 m), which it remains to this day. Through trial and error, 90 feet had been settled upon as the optimal distance. 100 feet would have given too much advantage to the defense, and 80 feet too much to the offense.

text: The original Knickerbocker Rules did not specify the pitching distance explicitly. By the time major league baseball began in the 1870s, the pitcher was compelled to pitch from within a "box" whose front edge was 45 feet (14 m) from the "point" of home plate. Although he had to release the ball before crossing the line, as with bowlers in cricket, he also had to start his delivery from within the box; he could not run in from the field as bowlers do. Furthermore, the pitcher had to throw underhand. By the 1880s, pitchers had mastered the underhand delivery—in fact, in 1880, there were two perfect games within a week of each other.[9]

text: In an attempt to "increase the batting," the front edge of the pitcher's box was moved back 5 feet in 1881, to 50 feet (15 m) from home plate. The size of the box was altered over the following few years. Pitchers were allowed to throw overhand starting in 1884, and that tilted the balance of power again. In 1887, the box was set at 4 feet (1.2 m) wide and 5.5 feet (1.7 m) deep, with the front edge still 50 feet from the plate. However, the pitcher was compelled to deliver the ball with his back foot at the 55.5-foot (16.9 m) line of the box, thus somewhat restricting his ability to "power" the ball with his overhand delivery.[10]:96

text: In 1893, the box was replaced by the pitcher's plate, although "the box" is still used today as a slang term for the pitcher's location on the field. Exactly 5 feet was added to the point the pitcher had to toe, again "to increase the batting" (and hopefully to increase attendance, as fan interest had flagged somewhat), resulting in the seemingly peculiar pitching distance of 60.5 feet (18.44 m).[10]:230

text: Many sources suggest that the pitching distance evolved from 45 to 50 to 60.5 feet. However, the first two were the "release point" and the third is the "pushoff point," so the 1893 increase was not quite as dramatic as is often implied; that is, the 1893 rule change added only 5 feet to the release point, not 10.5 feet.

text: Originally the pitcher threw from flat ground, but over time the raised mound was developed, somewhat returning the advantage to the pitchers. Before the mid-20th century, it was common for baseball fields to include a dirt pathway between the pitcher's mound and home plate. This feature is sometimes known as the "keyhole" due to the shape that it makes together with the mound. The keyhole was once as wide as the pitcher's box and resembled a cricket pitch. Sometimes this path extended through the batting area and all the way to the backstop. Once the rounded pitcher's mound was developed, the path became more ornamental than practical, and was gradually thinned before being largely abandoned by the 1950s. In recent years some ballparks, such as Comerica Park and Chase Field in the major leagues, have revived the feature for nostalgic reasons.

text: Maintenance[edit]

text: Honors and awards[edit]

text: The Sports Turf Managers Association (STMA) presents various awards each year. Starting in 2001, its Sports Turf Manager of the Year Awards have been presented annually in the Triple-A, Double-A, Class A, and Short-Season/Rookie divisions of Minor League Baseball and are chosen from the 16 league winners.[11] STMA also presents the Baseball Field of the Year Award, which includes Schools and Parks, College/University and Professional categories.[12]