>>In fact, the only reason a home run is a home run often is just that there is a fence stopping the fielder from getting to the ball. Afaik, there is nothing about the outfield fence, and the ball hit over it that magically creates a home run. If the fielder could get to it before it hits dirt, it would be an out.
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>Yep, and there have been some beautiful plays the last few years with outfielders bringing back home run balls. I'm partial to Torii Hunter in this regard, but that's only because we have his autograph from when he was in AA.
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He is an awesome outfielder. And he is going to get big bucks from someone this winter. Until A-Rod announced he was going to test the waters Hunter was arguably the best free agent available. Or maybe I'm forgetting some guys....

You probably saw that the Yankees said a couple of weeks ago that if A-Rod explored free agency they wouldn't try to re-sign him. Maybe that was just a negotiating ploy but I believed it. (Maybe they are tired of paying $25 million a year to a guy who disappears every postseason).