A baseball parks effect on hitting

[Einstein]

When looking at ballparks, there are three "types," a hitter's park, a pitcher's park and a neutral park.

But, just considering hitting, there are some things to consider. First, look at the dimensions of the park. Asymmetrical parks, in my opinion, tend to be good hitter's parks. Asymmetrical meaning, the dimensions are identical at all points in the park. For instance, an asymmetrical park might have dimensions of 335 to LF, 378 to the LF power alley, 404 to center, 378 to RF power alley and 335 to RF.

A hitter probably would thank me for the 335 to right field. It is a pretty fair distance for most hitters in MLB today.

A great hitter's park, I think, is Jacob's Field in Cleveland. It's a smaller park with somewhat odd dimensions. There are several open areas in left field and center field that are great for hitters. Another park I would deem a great hitter's park is PNC Park in Pittsburgh. Again, smaller dimensions, smaller park, lots of open space for hitter's to go after.

Pitcher's parks are those parks which have longer dimensions, are usually not asymmetrical, and have tons of crevices and other things that help the pitcher more than the batter. A great example is Houston's "Whatever they're calling it this year" park. First of all, the worst part is center field. Good God folks, 435 feet to center?

Not only that, and I'm not sure if this feature is still there, but in the early days, out in center field at, what was then Enron Field, there was a little hill that went up to the fence, AND a flagpole that was in play. If a hitter was strong enough to get one out there, it possibly could have meant an inside-the-park'er. But, 435 to center is foreboding to most hitters; therefore, pitchers love it.

I believe the old Tigers Stadium was like that as well. It was this big, cavernous field at Trumbull Street, that also had a flagpole in play, and a long drive to center field.

Neutral parks are interesting, and as we move on in the new stadium era of Major League Baseball, we are seeing more of those. Safeco Field in Seattle and "Whatever San Francisco's Park is called now" are good examples of neutral parks. Safeco is great. Looking at Safeco Field, left field seems to favor hitters, especially with that big open spot right above the bleachers. Right field, seems to favor pitchers, with a slightly longer dimension, more seats and so forth.

San Fran's park is a little bit the same way. San Fran actually has MLB's smallest right field line at about 308 feet into the bay. Left-handed hitters love that. Left field is a ton longer, at about 345 feet (about the same as Minnesota's Metrodome), thus favoring pitchers. The Metrodome, which thankfully has it's baseball days numbered, is what I consider a neutral park as well. Hitters love the 327 feet right field line. Pitchers love the 343 feet left field line, and my guess is that pitchers and hitters alike have their own views about that white roof.

Another thing to consider is the parks orientation, which direction it is facing has a lot to do with the wind factor, and whether hits become homeruns, or really bad pop-ups.

To conclude, hitting is affected in every park, based on a number of things, orientation, dimensions, seating and so forth. Check it out next time you are watching a game on TV, and see if you can assess the different factors that might make it a hitter's or a pitcher's park. Or better yet, a neutral one.

[mvalentin]

good read

I definitely look at park factors more than I used , however there are opportune times when you can find value, for instance betting unders at Coors or over at PETCO (given the right circumstances)


Its weird though how some parks change over time, Oakland was always a pitchers park , but this year offense has increased there in spite of their solid rotation. Here is ESPN's park factors ranking

2011 MLB Park Factors - Runs - Major League Baseball - ESPN

one thing i would like to factor more in my handicapping is weather, but that hasn't really affected winds blowing in at wrigley lately

[Einstein]

Hey MV. Yes I've been trying to factor in the weather as well as park dimensions into my handicapping as well, but I've been finding I am laying off games I would have bet and won; IE. the over in two of the NYM/CHC games.

This all got me thinking because of the short dimensions in San Francisco's right field - how left handed Barry Bonds used that to his advantage - as well as looking at lefty Ryan Howard's hit chart and seeing he hits about 70% of his balls to right field.

Definitely going to make some "value" bets when I see a team full of left handed hitters like Boston, if they ever roam into San Francisco.

Thanks for posting that link - I'll check it out.

[Einstein]

But then again, we possibly only got the over in last nights game because of Dickey injuring himself in the third. It is hard to say if the score would have stayed low or sailed over like it did.

[jarhead60]

The amount of area in foul territory that is playable is a major factor in making a baseball field a pitchers park. More area in foul territory means more foul ball pop ups and fly balls are outs. And on grass fields, the height of the grass and the hardness of the infield are adjustable factors by the home team.

And when trying to adjust statistically for a ball park, there is a difference between day and night games that should be factored into the analysis.

[Einstein]

It'd be nice if there were a ray to take all this information into consideration - looks like ESPN's ball park factors is the best way of gauging a ball park and its long term impact on hitting/pitching

[jarhead60]

here is another site with home and away stats

MLB Stats - MLB Team Outs Pitched per Game on TeamRankings.com

[weazel079]

Originally Posted by mvalentin

good read

I definitely look at park factors more than I used , however there are opportune times when you can find value, for instance betting unders at Coors or over at PETCO (given the right circumstances)


Its weird though how some parks change over time, Oakland was always a pitchers park , but this year offense has increased there in spite of their solid rotation. Here is ESPN's park factors ranking

2011 MLB Park Factors - Runs - Major League Baseball - ESPN

one thing i would like to factor more in my handicapping is weather, but that hasn't really affected winds blowing in at wrigley lately

I agree

[smitch124]

Originally Posted by Einstein

Hey MV. Yes I've been trying to factor in the weather as well as park dimensions into my handicapping as well, but I've been finding I am laying off games I would have bet and won; IE. the over in two of the NYM/CHC games.

This all got me thinking because of the short dimensions in San Francisco's right field - how left handed Barry Bonds used that to his advantage - as well as looking at lefty Ryan Howard's hit chart and seeing he hits about 70% of his balls to right field.

Definitely going to make some "value" bets when I see a team full of left handed hitters like Boston, if they ever roam into San Francisco.

Thanks for posting that link - I'll check it out.

Right field is a dead field at A T & T park, its short right down the line but juts out very quickly and the ball doesn't carry a lick in that direction. Visiting left handers absolutely hate the park, Todd Helton and Larry Walker used to cuss it out regularly. Also take a look at who succeeded in the home run derby at that park when the all star game was there.

[SteelCityPlayers]

good read, thanks