Home field advantage and “hitting ’em where they ain’t”

19 Replies

The 2013 World Series champion Red Sox succeeded for a lot of reasons, including a league-leading batting average on balls in play (BABIP). Not only did Boston’s .329 BABIP lead the AL this past season, it was the highest BABIP for any team in more than 80 years, and third highest of all teams since 1916.

Undoubtedly, the Red Sox were a fine hitting team, so it shouldn’t be a great surprise that they produced a stellar BABIP. But, playing in an outstanding hitters’ ballpark shouldn’t be overlooked as a major contributor to good BABIP scores.

After the jump, more on team BABIP and the influences of home ballparks.

Here are the teams with the best BABIP results since 1916.

Rk Year BAbip R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS sOPS+
1 DET 1921 .331 887 1724 269 99 58 799 584 373 .316 .385 .433 .818 118
2 STL 1930 .331 1004 1732 373 89 104 942 480 496 .314 .372 .471 .843 113
3 BOS 2013 .329 853 1566 363 29 178 819 581 1308 .277 .349 .446 .795 122
4 CLE 1921 .326 925 1656 355 90 42 846 624 380 .308 .384 .431 .815 117
5 PHI 1930 .326 944 1783 345 44 126 884 450 459 .315 .367 .458 .825 108
6 STL 1921 .325 809 1635 260 88 83 733 382 452 .308 .358 .437 .795 111
7 CHC 1930 .325 998 1722 305 72 171 940 588 635 .309 .378 .481 .859 117
8 MIN 1996 .325 877 1633 332 47 118 812 576 958 .288 .357 .425 .782 104
9 BOS 1997 .325 851 1684 373 32 185 810 514 1044 .291 .352 .463 .815 115
10 TEX 2008 .325 901 1619 376 35 194 867 595 1207 .283 .354 .462 .816 117
11 PHA 1925 .324 831 1659 298 79 76 774 454 429 .307 .365 .434 .799 109
12 NYY 1927 .324 975 1644 291 103 158 907 642 612 .307 .384 .489 .872 136
13 PIT 1928 .324 837 1659 246 100 52 768 435 352 .309 .364 .421 .785 112
14 NYY 1930 .324 1062 1683 298 110 152 986 646 569 .309 .384 .488 .872 120
15 CLE 2006 .324 870 1576 351 27 196 839 556 1204 .280 .349 .457 .806 109
16 WSH 1925 .323 829 1577 251 71 56 761 544 425 .304 .375 .412 .787 106
17 NYG 1930 .323 959 1769 264 83 143 894 422 382 .319 .369 .473 .842 112
18 CLE 1930 .323 890 1654 356 60 72 830 481 462 .304 .364 .431 .795 101
19 CLE 1999 .323 1009 1629 309 32 209 960 743 1099 .289 .373 .467 .840 116
20 DET 2007 .323 887 1652 352 50 177 857 474 1054 .287 .345 .458 .802 111
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/28/2013.

Unsurprisingly, the list is comprised entirely by teams from two high-scoring periods, 1921-30 and 1996-2013. In addition to the Red Sox, there are four other league champions represented, all of them from the first of those two periods. Not often you’ll see a list with both the 1927 Yankees and the 1930 Phillies represented, much less with the latter having the better result.

But, was the Red Sox high BABIP attributable to their ballpark, or to just being a fine hitting ball club? Looking at best home BABIP relative to overall BABIP yields the surprising result that the 2013 Red Sox failed to crack the top 300 in home BABIP edge, with their .011 home edge placing them tied for 376th place since 1916. I say that that is a surprising result because Boston appears 48 times among the 280 teams since 1916 with a home BABIP edge of .014 or better, by far the most for any team and twice as many times as the second-place Cardinals (the Rockies appear with the greatest regularity with 17 of their 21 seasons represented among those 280 teams, including 6 of the top 10, and 11 of the top 23).

Looking at specific ballparks, these have had the highest BABIP results over a minimum of 30,000 player games.

Rk Team Split From To G BAbip
1  COL Coors Field 1995 2013 45012 .330
2  PHI Baker Bowl 1916 1938 38017 .317
3  CLE League Park 1916 1946 42936 .309
4  TEX Rangers Ballpark 1994 2013 33034 .309
5  CLE Progressive Field 1994 2013 32448 .304
6  MIN HHH Metrodome 1982 2009 47766 .303
7  FLA Sun Life Stadium 1993 2011 42972 .302
8  ARI Chase Field 1998 2013 37115 .301
9  BOS Fenway Park 1916 2013 171781 .299
10  PIT PNC Park 2001 2013 30282 .299
11  HOU Minute Maid Park 2000 2013 32029 .299
12  ATL Turner Field 1997 2013 39634 .298
13  KCR Kauffman Stadium 1973 2013 69080 .297
14  STL, SLB Sportsmans Park 1916 1966 152979 .296
15  PIT Forbes Field 1916 1970 100861 .296
16  MIL Miller Park 2001 2013 30343 .295
17  SFG AT&T Park 2000 2013 32481 .294
18  TOR Rogers Centre 1989 2013 40518 .293
19  CHC Wrigley Field 1916 2013 197948 .291
20  BAL Camden Yards 1992 2013 36291 .291
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 1/2/2014.

The preponderance of current ballparks in this list might suggest they are the reason behind the coincident rise in offensive output over the past 20+ seasons. I suspect, though, that such a supposition is illusory. What is more likely the case is simply that, with more home runs and strikeouts over that period, the number of balls in play has dropped rather precipitously. That and the increased likelihood of better results (because of harder swings) when batted balls are put in play accounts for the phenomenon of current ballparks heading this list. Such a hypothesis is consistent with the following result, showing BABIP results relative to league average for different ballparks with a minimum of 30,000 player games.

Rk Team Split From To G BAbip BAbiptot Diff
1 COL Coors Field 1995 2013 45012 .330 .298 .032
2 PHI Baker Bowl 1916 1938 38017 .317 .296 .021
3 CLE League Park 1916 1946 42936 .309 .292 .017
4 TEX Rangers Ballpark 1994 2013 33034 .309 .298 .011
5 BOS Fenway Park 1916 2013 171781 .299 .288 .011
6 PIT Forbes Field 1916 1970 100861 .296 .285 .011
7 MIN HHH Metrodome 1982 2009 47766 .303 .293 .010
8 STL, SLB Sportsmans Park 1916 1966 152979 .296 .286 .010
9 CLE Progressive Field 1994 2013 32448 .304 .298 .006
10 KCR Kauffman Stadium 1973 2013 69080 .297 .292 .005
11 TEX Arlington Stadium 1972 1993 38653 .289 .284 .005
12 MIN Metropolitan Stadium 1961 1981 40571 .284 .279 .005
13 FLA Sun Life Stadium 1993 2011 42972 .302 .298 .004
14 ARI Chase Field 1998 2013 37115 .301 .298 .003
15 CHC Wrigley Field 1916 2013 197948 .291 .288 .003
16 WSH, WSA Griffith Stadium 1916 1961 81808 .290 .287 .003
17 PIT Three Rivers Stadium 1970 2000 65021 .290 .287 .003
18 KCA, KCR Municipal Stadium 1955 1972 34933 .279 .276 .003
19 PIT PNC Park 2001 2013 30282 .299 .297 .002
20 PHI Veterans Stadium 1971 2003 71546 .290 .288 .002
21 STL Busch Stadium 1966 2005 86508 .289 .287 .002
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 1/2/2014.

Adjusting for offensive context yields a greater variety of ballparks in use in different eras, though the list is admittedly still top heavy with current ballparks. While park factors undoubtedly play a role in the above results, the quality of pitching needs also to be considered. Here are the worst ballparks for ERA difference, over a minimum of 1500 games.

Rk Split From To G ERA ERAtot Diff
1 COL Coors Field 1995 2013 24878 5.70 4.34 1.36
2 PHI Baker Bowl 1916 1938 13010 4.73 3.88 0.85
3 TEX Rangers Ballpark 1994 2013 23762 5.08 4.36 0.72
4 BOS Fenway Park 1916 2013 78034 4.36 4.02 0.34
5 CLE League Park 1916 1946 14196 4.26 3.92 0.34
6 STL, SLB Spostsmans Park 1916 1966 54454 4.23 3.90 0.33
7 SEA Kingdome 1977 1999 20586 4.40 4.13 0.27
8 KCA, KCR Municipal Stadium 1955 1972 14276 3.94 3.67 0.27
9 MIN Metropolitan Stadium 1961 1981 16630 3.90 3.65 0.25
10 DET Tiger Stadium 1916 1999 61232 4.14 3.93 0.21
11 CHW New Comiskey Park 1991 2013 25474 4.53 4.33 0.20
12 MIN HHH Metrodome 1982 2009 28558 4.48 4.29 0.19
13 TOR Exhibition Stadium 1977 1989 9982 4.12 3.94 0.18
14 ATL Fulton County Stadium 1966 1996 28562 3.97 3.79 0.18
15 BAL Camden Yards 1992 2013 25192 4.51 4.34 0.17
16 TOR Rogers Centre 1989 2013 27146 4.45 4.30 0.15
17 CLE Progressive Field 1994 2013 23138 4.51 4.36 0.15
18 PHI Citizens Bank Park 2004 2013 13026 4.38 4.23 0.15
19 ARI Chase Field 1998 2013 19976 4.47 4.33 0.14
20 CIN Great American Ballpark 2003 2013 14486 4.39 4.25 0.14
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 1/2/2014.

A few new ballparks on this list, including several notable for their mainly struggling tenants and others for their tendency to promote batted balls not in play (aka home runs).

19 thoughts on “Home field advantage and “hitting ’em where they ain’t””

  1. Brent

    OK, here is a question and maybe it could help explain why BoSox are so consistently high. Why do we consider a ball that hits 20 feet up on the Wall “in play”. Isn’t it just as unplayable as a ball over the fence.

    Reply ↓
    1. Brent

      And the Baker Bowl had a similar Wall, if I recall correctly. Coors Field is just huge and the outfielders play up against the walls, so lots of balls fall in front of outfielders that wouldn’t happen in other places.

      Reply ↓
      1. Doug Post author

        The Baker Bowl did indeed have a high wall, in right field, higher even than the 37-foot green monster. Initially 40 feet high, a 20 foot screen was added in 1915, so the numbers here reflect play with a 60 foot-high structure in right that measured between 270 and 280 feet from home plate.

        Reply ↓
    2. Doug Post author

      Why are unplayable balls considered in play. Good question for which there isn’t a good answer. One could reasonably make a case that such balls are less in play than home runs, some of which fielders have a chance of making a play on.

      I would agree with your surmise that high BABIP in Fenway and the Baker Bowl are attributable to those unplayable in-play balls. League Park also but for a different reason. There was no high wall in its 290 foot right field porch but that distance was reduced to 240 feet when roped off for overflow crowds (League Park seated only 21,000). Not sure what the ground rule may have been but it wouldn’t be unreasonable to suppose that balls hit into the roped-off section (but not over the fence) would be counted as a ground-rule single or double.

      Reply ↓
      1. mosc

        The extensive ground rules at the metrodome will terrify even the most anal of baseball minds. Seriously, take a look if you want a headache.

        Reply ↓
  2. fireworks

    You say, “The preponderance of current ballparks in this list might suggest they are the reason behind the coincident rise in offensive output over the past 20+ seasons.”

    Are you refuting in total the idea that the current crop of parks influenced by the opening of Coca-Cola Field in Buffalo contribute to the scoring era of the 90s and 00s? Or did you just expect a reader to assign undue credit to the parks, hence the following table and paragraph?

    Reply ↓
    1. Doug Post author

      The latter, fireworks.

      Certainly, ballpark characteristics are an influence (as discussed in the comments above). But, the replacement of ball-in-play outs with strikeouts, and the increase in home runs also have had a strong influence on BABIP by driving down balls in play.

      Reply ↓
      1. fireworks

        I hadn’t slept yet. I got fixated on that statement for some reason. I knew it was a stupid question but I had to post it.

        Reply ↓
  4. Cyril Morong

    When I click on “View Play Index Tool Used” one thing it shows in the choices is

    “Find Individual Seasons (highest number of home runs hit/allowed by a left-handed batter against a left-handed pitcher in a season)”

    It seems like the link should be to something that has to do with teams, not individuals

    Reply ↓
    1. Doug Post author

      Thanks for asking, Cyril.

      The link is generated by Baseball-Reference. And, yes, it doesn’t really take you to the query for the displayed report.

      You can register your complaint/suggestion on the B-R site.

      Reply ↓
  6. Cyril Morong

    When it asks for “Team or League” it is not clear that to call up the best team/seasons in some stat you should just leave it alone

    Reply ↓
    1. Richard Chester

      Here’s what I did for the first list.
      Team Batting Split Finder
      Find Individual Seasons
      Split Tyoe: Total
      Choose a Split: Total
      Sort by BAbip
      Get Report

      Reply ↓
      1. Cyril Morong

        Thanks. But what if say you want to call up all the teams that had 125 or more HRs at home? When I did what you describe above, it also gives me all the league seasons that were at least 125 HRs at home. And there is alot of those. Is there some way to avoid that and just get the first team? Which I think is some year in the 2000s by the Rangers?

        Reply ↓
    2. Richard Chester

      For the second list:
      Team Batting Split Finder
      Find Totals Spanning Seasons
      Team or League: MLB Teams Together
      Split Type: Ballparks
      Choose a Split: Match any listed
      Sort by BAbip
      Choose a Stat: G equal to or greater than 30000
      Get Report

      Doug’s list has the name of the ballpark but my list has the BR symbol.

      Reply ↓

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *