Earl Webb joining Hammerin' Hank?

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/stats/parkfactor?sort=doublesFactor&season=2007

Okay, I'm reloading [/scarface]


Here's some more stuff for you guys. This breaks down the "doubles factor" according to ESPN.com and other sources. Kind of interesting to see that Magglio is hitting doubles in the 16th best place for two-baggers.

PETCO park is actually the last on there for doubles, but pretty high for triples, mainly for that huge right center field. Dolphin Stadium is 12th, while Fenway is 1st and justifiably so with the Green Monster.

 

Those numbers have to be affected by the proficiency of each park's tenant.

Fenway is a small-park anomaly, but the larger the park, all other things held equal, the better a chance for the big guys to get doubles. There is more area down the lines to get them, and more areas in the gaps, even bloop opportunities in front of the OFs.

 

Well, a friend gave me a copy of the Baseball Chronicle. Some of the information is repetitive, but I've been enjoying it today.

While doing so, I had a thought. Essentially, I became aware that I would rather write/report/research baseball than anything else in the world. This is the sort of thread that obviously attracts baseball fanatics. Out of curiosity, how many folks out there are professional fanatics?

I think I'd like to follow this dream of writing about baseball, and I'm interested in finding out how to get started in this niche market. I'd love to see some PMs from people who write about baseball for such things as the Baseball Chronicle and the Prospectus.

 

Simon, I can see what you mean, but isn't a game played between two teams? So just one tenant will not have to matter that much. A park will play how a park plays, for both teams.

Fenway is an anomaly because of the Green Monster and Pesky's Pole. If a right-handed hitter or a lefty for that matter puts the ball high off of the Monster, and the runner isn't slower than Barbaro with a broken leg, they'll coast into second.

 

But the way parks are built nowadays, all other things are almost never equal. How many symmetrical parks are there anymore? Dodger Stadium, Oakland ...

Fenway's not as much of an anomaly when you consider all the nooks and crannies and crazy dimensions at other parks.

 

Remember since that All-Star game, the fences have been pulled in a bit (altho CF remains the same distance.

 

Despite its relative symmetry, isn't Wrigley pretty conducive to doubles and triples due to the walls and corners? At least, it has been in my experience.

 

Metrodome is pretty eqaul. Shea as well. The Vet was. Funny thing is, most of those "equal" stadiums are all going to be torn down soon to make way for new stadiums. The Vet already was.

 

It's up there quite a bit, Doc. If you check out the link I put in there, Wrigley I believe is top 2 in doubles, relatively up there in triples. I would guess because of the nook in both left and right fields, and the fact that the balls ricochet off the brick.

 

so because it changes every day you can't write about it?

a team's W-L record changes every day, too. we can't mention that either?

wow

 

Absolutely, Wrigley's conducive to doubles. Simon's right in principle -- larger parks = more doubles/triples (and fewer home runs, for that matter) -- but there's never really a case for all things being equal.

 

Good question. Does the ivy factor in at all?