TVT 2041.6 - Keep the Pitcher's Park?

[StormZ_23]

The Northwoods Outpost is the last of a dying breed in the Brewster. Our beloved ballpark is one of the last true pitcher's parks in the league. As the league is currently in an offensive revolution of sorts, with the Mounties among the league's leaders in this revolution, it begs the question of whether the organization should conform to the league's norm. Should the team turn the Northwoods Outpust into a neutral park, or even a hitter's park? Let's look at some recent stats and see if we can find a noticeable difference in player/team performance between home and road games.

2041 Records:
Home: 45-36
Away: 52-29

A noticeable difference, but is this common in the Brewster? How many teams have better away records than home records?

JL Atlantic: 0/8 (Brooklyn has identical records, 37-44)
JL Frontier: 0/8 (San Antonio has identical records, 29-52)
FL Heartland: 2/8 (Louisville and Twin Cities; Nashville has identical records, 45-36)
FL Pacific: 2/8 (Vancouver and Portland)
Total: 4/32, only 12.5% of BBA teams. If you count teams with identical records: 7/32, less than 22%.

Very interesting stuff. Though, Vancouver is the only team in this bunch with a clear pitcher's park. A few of the teams lean towards being a pitcher's park, but not like Vancouver. Now, let's look at individual player splits.

Starting Rotation:
Lando Klomp
-Home: 16 GS, 5-8 record, 5.58 ERA
-Away: 16 GS, 7-5 record, 6.19 ERA
Miguel Ayala:
-Home: 13 GS, 7-4 record, 2.99 ERA
-Away: 17 GS, 6-5 record, 4.10 ERA
Gustavo Hernandez:
-Home: 12 GS, 4-3 record, 3.89 ERA
-Away: 14 GS, 6-4 record, 3.95 ERA
Jose Ramirez:
-Home: 16 GS, 7-3 record, 3.65 ERA
-Away: 14 GS, 9-2 record, 4.04 ERA

The last spot in my rotation was injury riddled, so I didn't feel there were enough games to accurately assess. Anyway, looking at these individual stats, the gap is there, but it's not that big (except for Miguel Ayala).

Team Pitching Stats:
Home: 45-36 record, .264/.334/.427, 4.42 ERA, 576 K, 268 BB, 83 HR, 748 HA
Road: 52-29 record, .269/.336/.458, 4.65 ERA, 483 K, 245 BB, 110 HR, 742 HA

These stats seem a little more revealing. At home, I suppress home runs, but not necessarily the amount of hits I give up. So if I were to change to a neutral park, theoretically the only thing that would change is the amount of home runs I give up, not the amount of hits. Now, let's look at the batters.

Lineup (vs. RHP)
Rashardo Menne III:
-Home: 303 AB, .267/.372/.389, 5 HR, 33 RBI
-Away: 350 AB, .289/.371/.429, 5 HR, 30 RBI
Fernando Castillo:
-Home: 274 AB, .307/.379/.591, 15 HR, 51 RBI
-Away: 261 AB, .368/.441/.651, 15 HR, 52 RBI
Angel Gonzalez:
-Home: 304 AB, .365/.414/.701, 23 HR, 73 RBI
-Away: 345 AB, .362/.403/.632, 16 HR, 66 RBI
Jeffrey Smith:
-Home: 295 AB, .329/.398/.631, 22 HR, 77 RBI
-Away: 329 AB, .316/.393/.611, 22 HR, 84 RBI
Alejandro Ortiz:
-Home: 204 AB, .328/.377/.490, 6 HR, 33 RBI
-Away: 216 AB, .352/.398/.704, 17 HR, 62 RBI
Aaron Stone:
-Home: 216 AB, .241/.385/.444, 11 HR, 38 RBI
-Away: 253 AB, .292/.402/.549, 18 HR, 47 RBI
Robbie Krok:
-Home: 209 AB, .230/.347/.335, 3 HR, 20 RBI
-Away: 263 AB, .228/.321/.297, 4 HR, 17 RBI
Masaki Sato:
-Home: 271 AB, .251/.307/.498, 18 HR, 44 RBI
-Away: 320 AB, .253/.329/.512, 21 HR, 68 RBI
Carlos Martinez:
-Home: 214 AB, .308/.366/.523, 7 HR, 38 RBI
-Away: 225 AB, .271/.320/.449, 7 HR, 26 RBI

Looking at all of these stats, these batters either play a lot better on the road or there is no extreme difference. However, one important thing to take away from this is that no batter plays significantly better at home. Sure, Jeffrey Smith and Carlos Martinez do have better stats at home, but they also have less at bats at home. And it's not like these two players play terrible on the road either. Before I make my conclusion, I want to look at the team batting splits.

Team Batting Stats:
-Home: 45-36 record, 2714 AB, .284/.360/.494, 114 HR, 454 RBI, 185 doubles, 21 triples, 5.83 runs per game
-Away: 52-29 record, 2987 AB, .302/.370/.521, 132 HR, 511 RBI, 206 doubles, 26 triples, 6.52 runs per game

There are a few stats here that I feel are most telling. Because I play an equal amount of home and away games, the fact that the team has almost 300 more at bats on away games, coupled with the offensive statistics, shows that the Mounties play much better on the road offensively. So, if the stadium fences were brought in to make the Northwoods Outpost a neutral park, I believe that would have a great positive effect on offensive output.

I would love to look at fielding statistics, but it doesn't look like I can see fielding splits for the players nor the team.

Conclusion:
Where to go from here? Well, I think the best course of action will be to make the Northwoods Outpost a neutral ballpark. Yes, it will be a sad day for the league. But, I'm trying to win. Even if I somehow win the Landis this season, I will most likely make the change. I believe the ballpark is suppressing my full offensive potential. My pitching staff will probably be affected, so it will be key to find the perfect balance of offensive production and pitching success.

One final question. Is it possible to find 3d renderings of the ballparks or make my own? I would love to see that giant wall in my stadium.

[bschr682]

boooo!

[StormZ_23]

boooo!

This isn't your team anymore!

[jleddy]

One final question. Is it possible to find 3d renderings of the ballparks or make my own? I would love to see that giant wall in my stadium.

That's actually a new feature in OOTP21 (which will be used for the 2043 season), although I don't think it'll affect the Brewster in any way...I could be wrong.

But, at a minimum, game-generated images could be used in the forums when a new stadium is built or an existing one is renovated/changed. Wilson did a great job using renderings he found online when he announced the ballpark for Portland and this new feature could make things like that easier and more accurate!

[RonCo]

Interesting to see where Vancouver ends up.