After a lot of talk recently about how many home runs have been going out at the New Yankee Stadium, I found this article recently on AccuWeather regarding the effect of the wind on the long ball.
http://www.accuweather.com/news-weather-features.asp
The key paragraph is here:
If the stadium seating tier shape is indeed the main issue, games will only be affected during times with the winds are from a westerly direction and above 10 mph. This typically occurs during the spring and the middle to late fall. The calmer weather during the summer should lead to a smaller number of home runs. In the meantime, the home run derby may continue.
Seems like all the talk of “a band box” or “Coors Field II” may be a bit premature. That would be like labelling Daniel Murphy an awful fielder for his entire career based on a few bad plays in the early going.
The Widening Geier 
April 22, 2009 at 9:08 am |
And they moved the fences in up to 9 feet in the gap to accommodate the scoreboard on the wall, plus they lowered the wall as well. It was a hitter’s park to begin with. Now it is an extreme hitter’s park, with the possibility of being a bandbox depending the wind issue. They have already commissioned a new wind study to figure out what is going on.
So, at least they recognize that there is a potential problem.
And Murphy is awful out there. Just hope the fans cut him some slack. His first game ever at any level as an outfielder was in the majors, and it’s not easy learning a position like that at the major league level, and perhaps not fair to the kid at all. His bat is great and he does all the little stuff you love offensively (working the count, hitting behind the runners, etc.), but a couple of more bad nights, and they might have to send him down until he proves he can pay the outfield. It’s not even May yet, and this team is killing me already with these tough losses.
April 22, 2009 at 12:53 pm |
Three more dingers at Coors Field East today, and it’s only the second inning. But in all fairness to Yankee McStadium, Kurt Suzuki and Melky can hit them out of anywhere. 🙂