Chass: Intangibles good! Stats bad!

[outofplace]

http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/parkfactor

Citizens Bank Park was right in the middle of the pack of MLB stadiums. It's a homer-friendly park, but neutral in overall runs scored.

Which, of course, doesn't take into account the team playing in it. The Phillies' pitching kinda had something to do with that, too.

Step 1: Learn how park factor is calculated.
Step 2: Comment on it.

You are getting them out of order.

Long day. I misread his post. Glazed right over the park factor and looked at overall runs. My bad.

Of course, the difference between the parks was much bigger last year than it had been in the previous two seasons. So how was Coors Field suddenly more hitter-friendly in 2010 than in '09 and '08?

Arlington went from 18th in 2007 to first in 2008. Huh?

Another example: If you look at 2010 alone, you would think Minute Maid in Houston was an extreme pitcher's park. I just wonder about the fluctuations in ballpark factor. It's not like the parks themselves changed. Perhaps the statistic doesn't take enough into account. That is why it is important to use your eyes and the available statistics.

Which comes back to the point that brought this up in the first place -- I don't think Ballpark Factor is enough to clear the significant gap between Halladay and Jimenez.

 

[RickStain]

That's a valid point. Weather can make a big difference, but there's still enough year-to-year variation that three-year rolling averages are usually used.

 

[outofplace]

That's a valid point. Weather can make a big difference, but there's still enough year-to-year variation that three-year rolling averages are usually used.

Which makes sense, but even the year-to-year fluctuation makes me wonder how useful this is. Sure, weather can have some impact, but that much?

Also, back to the comparison of Halladay and Jimenez, if you just take the road statistics for Jimenez he still has a 2.63 ERA, still higher than Halladay's 2.44 for all of his games. That is aided by playing in a division with the Padres (pitcher's park, bad lineup), Giants (pitcher's park), Dodgers (pitcher's park) and Diamondbacks (dog**** lineup in a hitter's park).

Interestingly enough, Halladay was actually even more dominant at home than on the road with a 2.21 ERA in 2010.

 

[Dick Whitman]

Whatever your personal feelings, it's just impossible to argue with the guy's and the site's sabermetric data's impact on society baseball. Saying "eh, it's not for me," in this era, is roughly akin to riding your bike instead of driving a car. Doesn't do a thing to diminish the car's primacy.