From The Baseball Analysts:
There’s been a lot of talk about the new Yankee Stadium playing like a bandbox, but the old stadium wasn’t so bad itself. The short right-field porch allowed the Yankees to stack up on lefties, so there has been a higher percentage of homers hit to right in Yankee Stadium than any other park.
As the author notes, there is a bit of a circular nature to this analysis. The short porch was inviting enough to have the Yankees skew their player procurement towards lefty bats, thereby increasing the number of home runs hit to right field. However, the author fails to note that a similar strategy was espoused regarding pitchers, as lefty hurlers were equipped to keep the ball in the largest part of the ballpark. In essence, I would say that we can attribute the large number of home runs hit to right field in the old Stadium to the dimensions of the park. Considering that the new park has the same dimensions, it stands to reason that a large number of home runs will go out to right field. As I have said on multiple occasions, it is too early to dub the new Stadium a bandbox, especially in relation to the place across the street.
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One Response to New Park Playing Like Old Park
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TIQ IQ
I agree- it’s far too early to dub this a pitcher’s or hitter’s park. There’s only been 4 games there!!! Let’s let the season play out and look at the numbers then. Maybe it was just poor pitching from both sides (Indians and Yankees) that made for the scoring outburst. It’s impossible to make any conclusions after just one series, and it’s comical that the talking heads on ESPN and other networks have been so quick to call the new Stadium a “bandbox.”