I wonder if he's talking about 12 homers for the padres, 7 for opponents for a +5 net,

or 9 for the padres, 4 for the opponent, so its close to a dozen total homers.

I'll have to make some kind of guess at the new homepark factor. I can't just wait till they play the season to get the new factor.

Money is at stake. Don't want to overpay for Chris Young next April.

I wonder if he's talking about 12 homers for the padres, 7 for opponents for a +5 net,

or 9 for the padres, 4 for the opponent, so its close to a dozen total homers.

Or maybe they'll give up 7 and hit 5. That would be nice.

Maybe he meant "per game."

I wonder how he knows the Padres would have benefitted more than the opposition from the closer fence? Did he chart warning track outs?

what ###### crap. just leave the goddam fence where it is. move it out further. stop bringing everything in cause ryan klesko strains his ##### when trying to hit the ball that far.

this has what to do with business of baseball? or is maury povich just locked in this room and isn't allowed to post articles anywhere else?

BOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

GM's thinking that certain ballpark configurations benefit their team is generally crap. Even if that would have produced 5 more HR for the Pads last year, that is mosty likely a fluke. And I have no idea what he is talking about as far as triples. In fact, if nothing else, you want a "quirky" park with a high triples rate, since triples have the hiIghest bay far home/road ratio.

In general, teams are better off with pitcher parks (although it is debatable how extreme you want to be). It gives their pitchers confidence (hitters don't need that kind of "confidence") and more importantly, it saves wear and tear on their bullpen.

Other than Houston taking out those seats down the LF line, has there been any ballpark changes to make it harder to hit homers in recent memory?

In general, teams are better off with pitcher parks (although it is debatable how extreme you want to be). It gives their pitchers confidence (hitters don't need that kind of "confidence") and more importantly, it saves wear and tear on their bullpen.

Absolutely. This is a dumb thing for the Padres to do, at least as a baseball move. Maybe they'll sell a ton more tickets to fans who equate home runs with good baseball entertainment, in which case it's conceivably a good business move. But I doubt even that; in the long run, what sells tickets best is wins, and having a pitchers' park is a long-run benefit to the win column of the team that plays there.

Man, if I were a Pods fan, I'd flock to the park to see that additional 0.06 HR per game they will hit!!!

Other than Houston taking out those seats down the LF line, has there been any ballpark changes to make it harder to hit homers in recent memory?

Kauffman pushed their fences 10-15 ft. back a couple years ago. Right around the time they signed Juan Gonzalez.

Kauffman pushed their fences 10-15 ft. back a couple years ago. Right around the time they signed Juan Gonzalez.

Oh, yeah.

Didn't they move them back a year or two later?

Didn't they move them back a year or two later?

No. You're thinking of Comerica.

I think the Phillies are considering knocking back from of the fences at their new park. But that place is a joke.

The Phillies just made a tiny change to make their outfied dimensions a bit larger, too.

I'm interested in the triples thing. Might it be that eliminating some triples, and doubles for slower guys, will make it a slightly better pitchers park than it was? There are more doubles than homers, after all. This is really a pretty insignificant change, though, since it's to a smal part of the fence, and the difference the study shows it to make is well within random fluctuation anyway.

Other than Houston taking out those seats down the LF line,

When did they do that? Or did they already announce it and I miss it?

Comerica moved the fences in in 2003 and then lowered them for 2004. In 01, Camden Yards they moved home plate back 7 feet and then moved it back to its original position in 02. In 96, Jack Murphy moved the RF fence back a little and raised it. In 96 when the A's renovated their stadium, they raised the height of the OF fences in the power alleys. The Astrodome moved out the power alleys in 93 (they were changing the dimensions all the time). Old Cle Stadium moved their fences back a lot in 92 and then in again in 92...

Old Cle Stadium moved their fences back a lot in 92 and then in again in 92...

No wonder Albert Belle became so messed up.

The power alleys at RFK were moved back 14 feet. Trouble was, it took 34 years, and no one realized it at the time.

A shame to see them removing triples in favour of a few more home runs. I'm a big fan (when watching, vs when evaluating the quality of a team) of the running game and triples encourage it, and it also makes an inside the park home run more likely I suspect. Is there a more entertaining baseball event than an inside the park home run? And if the gap made it easier for slow guys to get triples then you get the fun of watching them huff and puff as they get their one triple of the year.

Sigh. If only there was a way to get someone to rebuild the Polo Grounds. 500 to centre and 250-280 down the lines. Now _that_ sounds like a fun park to watch a game in. Cheap home runs for utility infielders now and then (see the shock and disgust in the pitchers face, the shock and joy in the hitters) mixed with seeing vetern catchers run as fast as they can thinking they just might get a '1' under that triple column on their baseball card.

I think the Phillies are considering knocking back from of the fences at their new park. But that place is a joke.

By "joke", do you mean "essentially neutral to slight hitter's park"? Because that's what CBP is -- it does increase HRs, but it depresses doubles and triples.

And, fwiw, the Phillies have actually decided and committed to moving back the LF fence a bit already by eliminating the first two rows of seats. I think it's already been completed.

Essentially neutral? The league ERA was 4.22 last year, and adjusted for CBP was 4.43.

By "joke", do you mean "essentially neutral to slight hitter's park"? Because that's what CBP is -- it does increase HRs, but it depresses doubles and triples.

Yeah, that 108 park factor is essentially neutral.

Parks that have 340 foot power alleys are a joke.

Old Cle Stadium moved their fences back a lot in 92 and then in again in 92...

Just to correct the typo, the fences went out (and up, at least in center) in '91, then in (and down) in '92.

'91 was the bleakest of the bleak for Tribe fans. Every once in a while, I'll still wake up in a cold sweat after dreaming about Jeff Mutis or Mauro Gozzo on the mound, Alex Cole in center, and a Mark Lewis-Felix Fermin double play combination.

*shudder*