Baseball 2014

Well, the Red Sox cleared house. They're giving MLB whiplash with this worst to first to worst again. Oh well, you really can't win them all.

 

Orioles opportunity now. The expanded the number of wildcards to ensure that both Boston and NY would make the playoffs. I'm rooting for Baltimore and Toronto. ESPN will go into mourning.

 

What is this ESPN of which you speak? Oh yeah, the channel I turn on when there's a soccer game and then debate whether I should put it on mute.

 

Although their new ballpark is easy on the eyes, it has basically ensured that Baltimore will never build a dominating franchise again. Like Cincinnati, the ballpark was designed to create as many homers as possible. There's no dimension in either outfield that allows a fly-ball pitcher to make a living. You can't develop a dynasty without a dominating pitching staff. Boston, Yankee Stadium, even Minute Maid Park has one deep area in the outfield where a fly ball pitcher can make a living. Cincy and Baltimore don't have it.

The new stadium in Baltimore is gorgeous, but it's doomed the Orioles to perennial second-rate status. Sure, they'll do well this season, and Cincy did well a couple seasons ago, but look where they are now.

 

I'm not sure I follow your argument completely. Two teams play against each other in the same stadium, one's not playing in Yankee stadium while the other is playing in Camden Yards during the game. Your argument is similar to what Red Sox fans were saying for years about Fenway Park as one of their reasons why they couldn't win a WS--it just don't follow any logic. Good pitchers will triumph no matter where the mound is located. Baltimore's problem has been it's owner for several years, Peter Angelos. Now that he's been butting out of things more and hired Buck, they've found some success.

 

The difference is that Baltimore's pitchers have to perform in that park 81 times a season. How they pitch there affects how they pitch everywhere else.

 

If your team has a good pitching rotation and bullpen, it doesn't matter the stadium. Good pitchers figure out how to get batters out, eliminating runners on base and runs scored for the opposing team. If they can only rely on one stadium to get batters out, they're not very good. If you build a team correctly that has a stadium with personality quirks it should work to your advantage. I have seen nothing to support your claims about Camden Yards as a reason why they can't succeed, one constant they've had since the opening of the stadium is the owner who is extremely unpopular with its own fanbase. Plus, this short LF (The Green Monster) in Fenway Park excuse has been now been proven wrong 3 times in the last 10 years. If a team doesn't win, it's most likely because from top to bottom they are not as good as the other teams they face during that season.

Plus, here are some stats that say Camden Yards is one of the least hitter friendly parks in MLB for 2014:

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

MLB Park Factors - Through August 2, 2014
RK PARK NAME RUNS HR H 2B 3B BB
1 Coors Field (Denver, Colorado) 1.370 1.360 1.242 1.110 1.654 1.016
2 Busch Stadium (St. Louis, Missouri) 1.144 0.936 1.025 1.217 1.601 1.068
3 Globe Life Park in Arlington (Arlington, Texas) 1.121 1.005 0.988 0.837 2.247 0.996
4 Chase Field (Phoenix, Arizona) 1.116 1.117 1.051 1.155 1.947 0.916
5 Rogers Centre (Toronto, Ontario) 1.104 1.399 1.066 1.129 1.506 0.891
6 Comerica Park (Detroit, Michigan) 1.102 1.017 1.063 0.878 2.649 1.126
7 Target Field (Minneapolis, Minnesota) 1.072 1.095 1.011 0.980 1.174 1.083
8 Kauffman Stadium (Kansas City, Missouri) 1.033 0.933 0.992 1.019 1.273 0.957
9 Marlins Park (Miami, Florida) 1.031 0.826 0.998 1.015 1.644 0.984
10 Great American Ball Park (Cincinnati, Ohio) 1.029 1.556 0.975 0.894 0.957 1.158
11 PNC Park (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) 1.026 0.621 1.085 1.190 0.905 1.075
12 Nationals Park (Washington, D.C.) 1.018 0.761 1.085 1.108 0.242 1.003
13 Tropicana Field (St. Petersburg, Florida) 1.013 0.813 1.001 0.917 0.657 1.031
14 Progressive Field (Cleveland, Ohio) 0.998 1.086 1.015 1.086 0.496 0.922
15 Wrigley Field (Chicago, Illinois) 0.995 0.988 0.957 1.008 0.992 1.144
16 U.S. Cellular Field (Chicago, Illinois) 0.993 0.907 0.978 0.894 1.338 1.175
17 O.co Coliseum (Oakland, California) 0.986 0.969 0.991 1.001 0.916 1.003
18 Minute Maid Park (Houston, Texas) 0.981 1.095 0.978 1.021 1.898 0.971
19 Fenway Park (Boston, Massachusetts) 0.972 0.708 1.017 1.562 0.753 1.113
20 Turner Field (Atlanta, Georgia) 0.947 1.030 0.975 0.850 0.602 0.943
21 Angel Stadium of Anaheim (Anaheim, California) 0.929 0.835 1.022 1.053 0.558 0.888
22 AT&T Park (San Francisco, California) 0.927 0.668 0.980 0.937 2.333 0.906
23 Yankee Stadium (New York, New York) 0.925 1.545 1.010 0.897 0.569 0.951
24 Miller Park (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) 0.921 1.062 0.920 0.774 0.491 0.882
25 Citi Field (New York, New York) 0.911 1.039 0.968 1.087 0.822 1.046
26 Petco Park (San Diego, California) 0.905 0.862 0.935 0.875 1.240 1.043
27 Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles, California) 0.904 1.141 0.934 1.166 0.290 0.844
28 Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) 0.891 1.109 0.946 0.911 1.018 1.103
29 Safeco Field (Seattle, Washington) 0.855 1.052 0.879 0.776 0.310 0.895
30 Oriole Park at Camden Yards (Baltimore, Maryland) 0.823 0.866 0.931 0.919 0.509 0.976

 

Yes, the stats are good for 2014, and they were probably great for Cincy two seasons ago, but I don't think they'll last.

And you keep missing my main point, Senator. In Cincinnati and Baltimore, there is NO outfield position that a fly ball pitcher can thrive in. It's an easy HR shot from foul pole to foul pole. By contrast, Houston and Boston -- each of whose home stadium has a short porch in left field, has huge expanses in left-center and center field. Yankee Stadium has large expanses in left center as well. When a hitter knows that he's got a sure out in 1/2 or 2/3rds of his outfield, he's going to be less likely to go for it than if he knows that a long fly ball anywhere has a good chance of getting out.

And speaking of Fenway, the problem for Boston in that park has ALWAYS been that it hurts their hitting -- NOT their pitching. Right hand hitters try to groove their swing for the short left porch and wind up hitting soft pop ups on the road as well. The best hitters in Boston history always prospered by ignoring it, but -- especially with a young team -- the wall hurts the hitters more than it does the pitchers.

 

And you're missing my main point, a good pitching staff conquers all regardless of stadium. Since Mussina, the Orioles haven't had an ace that struck a lot of fear. And it's probably their biggest reason why they won't do anything again this year. And if you don't want flyballs in your stadium, then get a ground ball pitcher--they work well in any stadium with a decent fielding team.

 

And Don, I just don't know why you keep claiming Fenway to be friendly to pitchers, the history just does not show your claim to be true.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2022 ... rs/page/14

http://www.billjamesonline.com/the_best ... ers_parks/