- Clayton Kershaw - 30th lowest FIP since 1915. 6th lowest last year. A chance to be only the 4th pitcher with a FIP below 2.00 more than once (Sandy Koufax 1963 & 1965; Walter Johnson 1915-1917, Pete Alexander 1915 & 1917). Of note, Kershaw and Koufax both call / called Dodger Stadium home (though Koufax had some more extreme conditions), and Johnson and Alexander, well, over 1915-1917, exactly one player hit more than 20 home runs in a full season, and exactly one other hit more than 15. Those were both in 1915. 1916 and 1917 had nobody hit more than 12.
- Bryce Harper - His season isn't over yet, but among players under 25, Fangraphs currently puts him as having 20th best season of all time, with some time to climb that charts. By the way, among players still under 25, the 9th and 10th best seasons of all time belong to one Mike Trout in 2012 and 2013. If you go offense only (using wRC+), he climbs to 6th all time under 25. - Jake Arrieta - This came up today. After again allowing 0 runs (for the 7th time since the All-Star game), his second half ERA is down to 0.86. It is the lowest ever for the second half of a season with 13 or more starts. Nobody else has ever been below 1.00. He's having a heck of a year, though value suggests that he's still no Kershaw, and nobody is. - Mike Trout - It's always something with him. Here's a career stat, for a young guy. This is his age-23 season (he turned 24 in August, but age is counted as of June 1). He has accumulated the most WAR of any player by age 23 (37.3 and counting in 4 and a bit seasons). That's ahead of Ted Williams, Ty Cobb, Mel Ott, Mickey Mantle... and, well, everybody. - Chris Sale - His strikeout per 9 inning rate of 11.97 is currently the 9th best over a full season in history. Ahead of him are Randy Johnson 6 times, Pedro Martinez and Kerry Wood once each. - Aroldis Chapman - Similarly, his strikeout per 9 inning rate of 15.97 so far is the 5th best rate in history for a reliever, with a chance to climb to 4th or 3rd. He still trails the record by a decent amount, set by Aroldis Chapman, 2014. Since reaching the major leagues, Chapman has struck out 43.0% of all batters he has faced, the best of any reliever since 1915. The only other guy to pass 40% is Craig Kimbrel. For some additional fun, the leaderboard of fastest individual pitches is so one-sided at the top (there's literally one name on it), that they went ahead and created a "Chapman Filter" to give some other people a chance. - All rookies - A lot has been written about how good this years rookies have been. Among position players, there are already 7 who have accumulated over 3 WAR, led by nearly 6 from Kris Bryant. Going with an arbitrary cutoff of 1986 (30 seasons), 84 rookies accumulated over 3 WAR, or just under 3 per season, so this is pretty good. Kris Bryant is pretty close to being one of the 5 best rookies of the last 30 years, in particular. - Playoff Possibilities - Probably anybody reading this blog is well aware that the Blue Jays have not been to the playoffs since Mitch Williams threw that last pitch to Joe Carter back in 1993. That is now the longest playoff drought in the 4 major North American sports, though 22 years since a title is far from the longest, particularly among the current probable playoff participants. Quickly: Toronto Blue Jays - Last playoffs, 1993. Last title, 1993. New York Yankees - Last playoffs, 2012. Last title, 2009. Kansas City Royals - Last playoffs, 2014. Last title, 1985. Texas Rangers - Last playoffs, 2012. Last title, never (franchise started in 1961). Houston Astros - Last playoffs, 2005. Last title, never (franchise started in 1962). New York Mets - Last playoffs, 2006. Last title, 1986. St Louis Cardinals - Last playoffs, 2014. Last title, 2011. Pittsburgh Pirates - Last playoffs, 2014. Last title, 1979. Chicago Cubs - Last playoffs, 2008. Last title, 1908. Los Angeles Dodgers - Last playoffs, 2014. Last title, 1988. So of the probable playoff participants, it turns out that only two have won the World Series more recently than Toronto. Of course those 2 have combined to win 38 of 110 World Series titles, so they're often in the mix. That being said, go Jays.
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By request of Joel, let's try to pick out an interesting feature of each MLB stadium. For purely physical dimension information of the ballparks, click here. For no particular reason, I'm going by division, just to put in separators. For information about park factors, check these out, and then I won't rehash too much.
Started with all AL stadiums in Part 1, now lets go with the NL gang. The AL group may have gotten a little "fact-heavy", so this one may be a little shorter in the hopes of having more interesting facts. National League East New York Mets (Citi Field) - Part of a grand New York, New York double opening in 2009 (Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium were both replaced that year), the exterior was built to evoke memories of old Ebbets Field, but did bring along one of the few beloved parts of Shea Stadium - the Home Run Big Apple. Washington Nationals (Nationals Park) - Nationals Park is a harder one to find anything interesting about without just punching in facts. On parkfactors.com, they note "The park has generic dimensions (337-377-402-370-335) and no special on-field elements" as well as being neutral for offense. The most interesting thing about Nationals Park is probably watching Bryce Harper play. Seriously, check him out. He's 22 and having one of the all-time seasons, living up to his SI cover at age 16. Philadelphia Phillies (Citizens Bank Park) - The Bank has been one of the most homer-happy stadiums in the league since it opened, though not for any particularly odd physical dimensions. It has a neon Liberty Bell that lights up and "rings" when the home team goes yard. Beyond this, it is yet another retro modern classic new build. Unfortunately for the local fans, the home 9 have been pretty dreadful the last couple of years, but that comes off of being a dominant team for about 5 years, so it's just your typical rebuild cycle that most non-Yankees and non-Cardinals fans have to deal with. Miami Marlins (Marlins Park) - This is the current newest stadium in the league, and was met with derision when it first opened, along with the teams brand new colours and all-new lineup (featuring Jose Reyes and Mark Buehrle...). The team was torn up by spendthrift owner Jeffrey Loria when they didn't immediately win (and I mean immediately, they started the rebuild mid-season). They feature a bizarre home run statue that many mock, though some people have said that it's actually pretty fun and artistic in person. Seriously though, take a good long look at that. It gets active... Oh, and there's also an aquarium behind home plate. Atlanta Braves (Turner Field) - Lets not spend too long on this field. Though it's less than 20 years old (it opened for the Atlanta Olympics), owners managed to convince local taxpayers to help fund a brand new stadium that is full of problems already. Quote from the great Grant Brisbee "The new Braves ballpark is a political shitstorm and a mockery of the democratic process." There are other small issues, including the fact that the main parking will be across a freeway from a stadium, and that the proposed pedestrian bridge to the stadium won't be ready when the stadium opens in 2017, and currently may never be opened. This just in (not at all just in), taxpayers funding stadiums is a terrible idea. National League Central St. Louis Cardinals (Busch Stadium) - Besides being home to the self-noted "Best Fans in Baseball", Busch is much like most of the new retro stadiums. You can see the famed "Gateway Arch" in the background, but the fans are generally watching the field, since the home team has been one of the consistently best teams in baseball for a long time. Chicago Cubs (Wrigley Field) - The second oldest stadium in the league, pretty much all fans are familiar with the famed ivy-covered outfield walls. The single-level outfield bleachers and the North-side neighbourhood location also let fans see in from the rooftops of neighbouring buildings. Traditionalists love the stadium, but many note that the amenities and facilities are badly lacking at this point (it is over 100 years old). Despite its age, it is not as old as the Cubs' last World Series title, but the lovable losers always seem to draw fans to the homey atmosphere. Pittsburgh Pirates (PNC Park) - A frequent top mention for most scenic stadium (along with upcoming AT&T), it also joints AT&T as having water near enough to the stadium to be reachable by home runs, though much less often than in San Francisco. Besides the Home Run Derby in 2006, only two players have reached the river on the fly, though a few have hit it after a bounce or two (and one home run landed in a boat). Milwaukee Brewers (Miller Park) - The house that Bud built (Selig, not Weiser), features a big yellow slide that their mascot Bernie goes down when the Brewers hit a home run (and on Mother's Day 2014, he went down with "his mother"...). Games also feature a "Sausage Race", and in 2003, Pirates player Randall Simon knocked down the Italian Sausage with a blow to the head (of the sausage only, Wikipedia assures us that the runner herself was not hit), and in the fall, the hot dog was taken down as well. The Polish Sausage stopped and helped them up so that all sausages could finish the race. Sometimes I have to work for the humour, but this is all just fact, my friends. There have since been a number of parodies, which I won't recap here, just check the Wiki link. Cincinnati Reds (Great American Ball Park) - Another waterfront stadium (it actually replaced Riverfront stadium), it is a little tougher to reach on the fly, as only one has ever gotten there. Beyond that, it has a (getting not-that-exciting) home run statue which gets lit up often (it is an extreme home run park). National League West Los Angeles Dodgers (Dodger Stadium) - The oldest stadium besides Wrigley and Fenway, it's still seen as a jewel thanks to the scenic locale. Vin Scully has been calling home runs there since it opened (and longer than that - he's finishing his 66th season now, and ready for one more next year). It's main features are mostly in its history, since it has hosted 8 World Series and a number of Cy Young winners (though that might be due largely to its offense-deadening ocean atmosphere). San Francisco Giants (AT&T Park) - Possibly the crown jewel of all the stadiums, AT&T sits on McCovey Cove and is very reachable by powerful left-handed hitters, though overall it is the hardest stadium in the league for hitters. 104 home runs have reached the water on the fly, 35 by one Barry Bonds. Nobody yet has hit the glove though. Colorado Rockies (Coors Field) - Hoping to mitigate the offense-heavy thin-air atmosphere a mile above sea level, the Rockies made the second-largest outfield in the league. Home runs still fly out of the yard though, and so do doubles and triples into the gaps. They have even taken to putting balls into a humidor to try to deaden them a bit, but it still plays to the hitters more than any park in the league by a wide margin. This is the park where pitchers' careers go to die. See Neagle, Denny (though for other reasons than just pitching), and Hampton, Mike among many others. Arizona Diamondbacks (Chase Field) - The second retractable roof stadium built, this one is primarily to keep the fans cool in the Arizona heat rather than protection from rain. If the roof and air conditioning still aren't keeping you cool, you can also relax in the pool just past the center field wall. Just watch out for long fly balls. San Diego Padres (Petco Park) - Last but not least. But not best either. The stadium, like the team, kind of moves along relatively unnoticed. Petco is a nice park that shows off the San Diego skyline well, and integrates an old warehouse like Camden. Like the other west coast stadiums, the heavy ocean air wreaks havoc on hitters, but does well for the pitching staff. Alright, that was all for now. I've gotten some more requests already, so thanks for reading, and check back in a few days maybe for more. By request of Joel, let's try to pick out an interesting feature of each MLB stadium. For purely physical dimension information of the ballparks, click here. For no particular reason, I'm going by division, just to put in separators. For information about park factors, check these out, and then I won't rehash too much.
American League East Toronto Blue Jays (Skydome) - Start with the "team of the North", or whatever they're going with these days. Until this year, it was hard to remember that they had been the first team to hit 4 million fans in a season (which they did 1991-1993). But the fans do appear when the team is playing well, and their average attendance is up to 9th in the league so far. As far as the most unique feature of the Skydome (yes, lets keep calling it that), being the first stadium with a retractable roof. They are also one of only two stadiums now that don't have natural grass, though they're working on shortening that list to one. Tampa Bay Rays (Tropicana Field) - By most accounts the worst stadium in the league... there are a few interesting tidbits about it. Physically, at one point they did have a cutout in the left field wall. According to JP Morosi the team decided in 2007 that providing more opportunities for home run robberies for star left fielder Carl Crawford would be fun for the fans. And at that point, they hadn't provided much fun for the fans. It is visible in some pictures, though hard to specifically find in a search. Other tidbits include - the only stadium left with a non-retractable roof; the only other stadium with artificial turf, and at 31,042, by far the smallest seating capacity of any of the 30 stadiums (though Wikipedia notes that including the tarp covered seats, it can seat 42,735). New York Yankees (Yankee Stadium) - It is a little less unique now that they opened a new version in 2009. Some of its features include Monument Park (which was basically brought over from the old stadium. Checking out the physical dimension link from above, you can notice that their right field wall is way shorter than pretty much the other 29 stadia. Apparently from 2012-2014 an absurd 40% of left-handed hitters' fly balls went for home runs. Let's move on. Baltimore Orioles (Oriole Park at Camden Yards) - Camden was the first of the new "retro" fields built, which opened in 1992. Skydome had seemed like the hot new thing in 1989 with the retractable roof, but since then there has been a much more frequent move towards the more "classic" look. It is kind of the original hipster stadium. That being said, it is a better look than the Skydome. In terms of unique features, what comes up most often is probably the old warehouse beyond the right field bleachers. Integrating features of the city and skyline into the stadium in some way became popular with some of the new stadiums that came after this. And Ken Griffey Jr enjoyed it at the 1993 Home Run Derby. Boston Red Sox (Fenway Park) - A lot to pick from. The outfield alone gives a lot of quirks. It has the highest wall of all the stadiums (the famous Green Monster in left field) as well as the shortest wall of all the stadiums (the right field corner by Pesky Pole). It has the shortest left field line (310'), shortest right field line (302'), and shortest center field (390' - though it does jut out just right of center). All in all, the smallest fair territory of all the parks. That and it's the oldest stadium in the league, having opened in 1912. American League Central Kansas City Royals (Kauffman Stadium) - Kauffman has the largest fair territory of all the parks, which has been covered over the last year or two by the best outfield defense in the league. Of course, it's probably more famous for the fountains beyond left-center field. It was the last stadium that opened before Toronto's Skydome, with a surprisingly long 16-year gap between the two. For reference, in the 16 years after Skydome opened, 17 new stadiums opened (Tampa Bay, Chicago (White Sox), Baltimore, Cleveland, Texas, Colorado, Atlanta, Arizona, Seattle, Houston, Detroit, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, San Diego, Philadelphia). Minnesota Twins (Target Field) - The second newest park in the league doesn't have a lot of history, but does include one of the higher outfield walls (23' high in right field) which also has flower boxes on the top of that particular wall. The stadium it replaced was definitely quirky, but that's not what we're here for. They did put in a cool old-fashioned looking neon sign out beyond the wall. Detroit Tigers (Comerica Park) - Another new-ish stadium that replaced a fairly quirky classic. They do have some fun Tiger statues outside and along with many of the "modern retro" builds, do a good job of integrating the city skyline into the background. They also added a KC-like fountain in the outfield to go off when the home team hits a home run. Cleveland Indians (Progressive Field) - Another faux-retro stadium from the mid 1990's, then-Jacobs Field opened as the Indians started to actually play extremely well after a long period of mediocrity (which reached such depths that the movie Major League was focused on this franchise). In a data quirk, Wikipedia denotes Progressive as a Retro Modern stadium vs the Retro Classic that is Camden Yards. There are, in fact, 9 Retro Moderns, 12 Retro Classics, 3 Multipurpose, 1 Modern Retro Modern, 1 Modern Retro Classic, 1 Modern, 1 Contemporary, and 2 Jewel Box stadiums. Beyond that ballparksofbaseball.com notes that this is the only stadium with an associated retired number - 455, for the number of consecutive sellouts they had here from 1995-2001, a span that saw the Indians hit the playoffs 6 out of 7 years and lose twice in the World Series. This had ended a postseason drought of 41 years, so Jays fans don't have much to complain about yet. Chicago White Sox (U.S. Cellular Field) - The above noted "Modern Retro Classic" stadium opened after Skydome and the Trop, but before the explosion of new fields began. It's a bit of a non-descript park, which was criticized for not being in the style of the retro moderns/classics when Camden opened a year later. It seems to straddle the line of the old cookie-cutter bowl stadiums and the newer multi-dimensional stadiums. Due likely to the Windy City in which it resides, The Cell has ended up being one of the most extreme hitters parks in the league that isn't a mile above sea level. American League West Houston Astros (Minute Maid Park) - The Juice Box (nee Enron Field -- oops) replaced the "Eighth Wonder of the World" as the Astrodome was known. Leaving aside its birth name, Minute Maid features a number of physical quirks. Built at the site of an old train station, the left field wall beyond the grandstand features train tracks where a train rolls across the tracks for Astros home runs. The left field "Crawford Box" is the second shortest distance from home plate of any left field wall (315') after Fenway, but center field features the longest distance at 436' from home plate. Along with this distance, there is a 20 degree incline called Tal's Hill in center field with a flagpole in play. Texas Rangers (Globe Life Park in Arlington) - As much a hitters park as the Cell, Globe Life is affected by the hot, thin Texas air and has caused trouble for pitchers since it opened the same year as Progressive Field. Right field features a low-hanging covered grandstand in the style of old Tiger Stadium. The outside of the stadium features a brick architecture and is the only enclosed "retro" ballpark, with a 4-story office complex partially surrounding the field. Los Angeles Angels (Angel Stadium of Anaheim) - Angel Stadium is the 4th oldest stadium in the majors, with the 3 oldest all being seen as "true classics" (Fenway, Wrigley, Dodger). A big stadium with heavy coastal air, it is one of the most extreme pitchers parks in the league. It features a giant halo'd A outside the stadium and a rock pile and hedge garden beyond the outfield wall. Oakland Athletics (O.Co Coliseum) - Open as long as Angel Stadium, this still-multipurpose stadium is starting to come apart due to aging and sharing with the Raiders and their fans. Due to small crowds, huge swaths of seats are tarped off, reducing the seating to the second smallest capacity in the league at 35,067. With these seats open, O.Co would have the second largest capacity in the league at just under 56,000. Actively sharing the stadium with the NFL leads to some interesting views during September (and occasionally October) football games. "1st down, safe at second base". Oakland is attempting to build a new stadium in San Jose, but has been battling the Giants for territorial rights for several years. Seattle Mariners (Safeco Field) - Safeco has been the second toughest pitchers park in the league over recent years, which prompted changes to the physical dimensions of the field to try to help hitters out a bit. Unfortunately there isn't much to be done to help the heavy sea air in Seattle. Playing in the rainy Northwest demanded a retractable roof, to prevent frequent rainouts, though unlike the Skydome, the ballpark is covered but not enclosed. Alright, I was going to do all 30 in one post, but this is already at over 1600 words, so lets break it into the two leagues. |
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Greg JacksonA baseball fan in general. Interested in statistics and analytics. Usually follow the Giants and Blue Jays, fan of all MLB in general. |