From Accuweather.com (hat-tip to WasWatching.com):
AccuWeather.com has done extensive research into whether the weather is playing a role in the number of home runs at the new Yankee Stadium. We have determined that this weekend's games with the Phillies will help determine the outcome of this summer's home run derby at Yankee Stadium because the forecast is for warm and a little more humid weather, typical summer weather for New York city.Remember, Accuweather.com also said originally that the winds were a major factor, so they've changed their tune a bit.
Our findings show that the weather conditions at Yankee Stadium oppose the number of home runs being hit at the stadium. Winds really have not been a factor, given that in most games, winds were not all that strong. In most games, winds were under 10 mph, and the direction of the wind was not consistent with the right field home run theory.
In respect to the temperature and humidity, and the laws of baseball flight, the number of home runs should be down. The laws of baseball flight say that a baseball will fly a longer distance in air that is warm and humid. Air that is warm and humid is considerably less dense than air that is cool and dry. The resistance on a baseball is greater in dense air than less-dense air. For example, a typical warm and humid New York evening would generally mean a better chance for home runs than, say, the cool evenings of April.Our findings have shown that the majority of games where home runs where hit, the temperatures were between 54 and 69 degrees. The few games where the temperatures were in the 70s, the air was dry in those games. In all games, the air overall was dense compared to the warm, humid air that is yet to come.We can only conclude from the weather data that the number of home runs should only go up this summer. AccuWeather.com is already predicting higher-than-normal humidity in the New York City area this summer, which means the home run derby should continue at Yankee Stadium.
Anway, the article goes on to say that the likely cause or causes of the high number of homers was "the dimensions of the field, the height of the fences in the outfield, the quality of hitters, or the quality of the pitching (or lack thereof)." I'm gonna go with the distance of the wall in the right-center field gap, which I've heard was something like 9 feet shorter, even though Lonn Trost would like you to believe otherwise, and most importantly the lack of pitching. The pitching at the new stadium has been awful all around.
6 Comments:
This is like gay priests complaining about homosexuality.
I like home runs, as far as I can see when I am at games or in a bar watching a game, most other people seem to also love home runs. This is all just a bunch of non-sense because ESPN needs to scrape together 'something' to fill 5 hours of sports news a day. I wish everyone would just stfu and enjoy the home runs, because deep down they love them too.
Peter Gaymons.
'nuff said, hes a nugget.
I have not looked at a picture of the real stadium recently but if memory serves me, the 385 mark and the 399 mark were about half way between the foul poles and the 408 mark in center field.
Looking at the the field today, I noticed the 385 mark is much closer to center (it would need to be about the middle of the auxilary scorboard to be at the half way mark) than the traditional power alley mark. The 399 mark is also about 3/4 of the way toward center as opposed to the mid way mark (which would put it near the letters "FT" in the ad under the bullpen fense).
So it would seem that the demensions of the field are the same but the angle of the fence from the foul poles out to the mid way are not as dramatic. The angle of the fence is more gradual than the real stadium. Maybe there is a way to super impose the 2 fields one on the other to see if this pans out.
It would be right in line with Trost's "field of greed" adding a row or 2 of seats and making the fence line more gradual out toward center, thus moving the power alley marks more toward centerfield. Yes the demensions are the same, they're just not in the same spot.
The dimensions of the stadium is not the problem. Jeter homerun traveled 415 ft in the yankee bullpen last night its the wind tunnels that are the problem. Just sit in the upperdeck and the wind is blowing like crazy it felt like I was at the Giant Stadium.
First I never believe the radar gun or the distance traveled as quoted by any MLB club.
I sit in the upper deck all the time so I know about the wind. I've also stood in the food court behind third base and felt the wind tunnel blowing through that area out to right center field.
The wind is one thing, what I am saying is something in addition to the wind currents. So pay attention! It appears that the power alleys of the new park may be off by as much 5-10feet. The distances are the same in right, center, and left; but the power alleys may be shorter if the 385 and 399 marks are not in the same locations as the old stadium. The 385 and the 399 ft marks are about 15 feet further toward center field. If this is in fact true, then the distance in the traditional power alleys are than shorter than the old stadium. This with the wind, would help explain the HR surge.
Distance wise, ARod's 9th inning homer yesterday would not have left the old Stadium. There is an issue with distance and wind. I'd like to see it rectified eventually and I think that closing off the airflow in the upper deck is probably the easiest solution.
Until then, both teams have the same advantage / disadvantage.
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