Expert: Brian Flaspohler - 5/29/2006

Question
When Babe Ruth was sold to the Yankees, his home field was the Polo Grounds for a few years and then Yankee Stadium from 1923.  I note that both of these parks had a very short right field fence/wall at the foul line. How about the other A.L. parks? Was Babe a pull hitter?  Did the parks have an influence on his great number of homers? Was there a change in the baseball after WWI that contributed to the dramatic increase in homers in MLB in the 1920'a compared to earlier decades?  Pitching rule changes? Philosophical changes in attitude about how the game was played?  Likewise, Hank Aaron - when he went to Atlanta, three Braves hit 40+ homers in one season (including Davey Johnson) - was that a hitter's ballpark - dimensions, elevation come into play that somehow padded Hank's numbers - I love the guy, but Mays was always my favorite - were Willie's HR numbers decreased because of configuration - what about Candlestick? [I'd like to get your ideas on this subject in general - I live in S.F., but not a Bonds fan - Mays was always my favorite, I always respected Hank, but he doesn't make my N.L. alltime outfield.]  Thanks.

Answer
Fred,

Ballparks always have an influence over stats.  Just look at the most extreme example currently and one of the most extreme parks in history, Coors Field in Denver.  More homeruns and runs and scored there because of the altitude.  Todd Helton, if he stays healthy, and stays in Colorado, will have some serious lifetime statistics.  But those will be inflated because he played half his games there in Colorade.  So some ballparks can make a real difference in career stats.

Babe Ruth is an interesting example.  He was a pull hitter, but not as extreme a case as Ted Williams.  Ted Williams pulled so much that teams ended up using a drastic shift where the only player on the left side of second base was the right fielder.  His number of home runs was influenced by park, but not as much as someone might speculate.  The biggest deal with Ruth is that before him, players didn't try and hit home runs.  Ruth was the guy that changed that.  He tried to hit the ball a long way; was successful; and then others began to copy his hitting style.  For example, he hit something like 15% of all the homeruns hit in the American League in 1921.  (Number close but not exact).  The equivalent today would be for a hitter to bang out 150 homers!  So he changed the whole philosophy of how baseball was played.

Mays was hurt by playing in San Francisco.  You hear all kinds of crazy estimates, but statisticians who examine these kinds of questions estimate that he lost maybe 30-40 homers to his park.

Atlanta Fulton County stadium was (before Coors Field came around) one of the most consistent hitter friendly parks in the National League.  It and Wrigley Field were the hitters parks.  Now that Coors is here, the other parks don't look so extreme, but it was a hitter's park.  But not so much that it added 10 home runs a year to the average slugger.  Probably five or so more then might be expected in a neutral park from a Hank Aaron type slugger.

Stan Musial is my all time favorite player, but Albert Pujols is climbing up there.  I just love those Redbirds!  But I have a soft spot in my heart for the Giants because I lived in the Bay Area for three years.

Write back anytime.  These are the kinds of questions I like to answer (as opposed to all the ones I get about the rules - Ugh).

Brian