What Was Your First Big League Park Experience?

Nothing beats the nostalgia of the old ball yard.  Old ballparks like Polo Grounds and Ebbets Field stir memories, while new parks like AT&T Park and Enron Field create new ones.   Oops, ok, well, naming rights and corporate fraud may have diminished the nostalgia a bit, but the uniqueness of each park still plays a huge role in player performance over time.  For example, right-handed power pitchers have a distinct advantage at AT&T Park, while a strong breeze blowing out to center at Wrigley makes hitters salivate. 

With Diamond Mind Online, you select your home park -- the home field for your team -- and this should not be underestimated.  Our game includes every current park in the majors, plus dozens of historical parks to choose from.  So when picking your team, definitely tailor your lineup to your home field -- and even use it to your advantage (but you didn't hear that from us).  

Parks with unusual outfield wall configurations, causing usual bounces for extra bases, or abnormally large foul territory (giving infielders more room to snag popups before they become souvenirs) can also impact player and overall team performance.   Weather, or lack thereof -- think Candlestick and SkyDome, respectively, should also be a consideration.

As an example, if you're lineup is top heavy with power hitters, consider the Polo Grounds or the Kingdome (300+ feet down each line).  Case in point:  Ken Griffey, Jr., who played 11 years in Seattle, hit nearly 400 home runs with the Mariners (of his current 600 career HRs), nearly 200 of which were hit at the Kingdome. 

NOTE: Park factors are a difficult thing to determine, as they are dramatically affected by the other parks at the time. We use a concept known as Dynamic Park Factors to normalize a park’s effect for a different era. This is most relevant when using parks from before 1920 in later eras. To help with this, please read Park Factors under Reference.

I generally decide what type of strategy I want overall then pick a park to fit that strategy.  I draft hitters that exploit the benefits of the park and pitchers that counter it.  Two such strategies used by myself and many others are:

”Walk ‘n Rock” – a line up of guys who get on base in front of pure power hitters, with a home park that benefits pitchers in every way except home runs.  I’ll get a bunch of hitters who walk and/or hit shots and pitchers who don’t give up a lot of shots.  Players who fit this strategy best are Joe Morgan (great lead-off hitter for this strategy), Mike Schmidt, Lou Gehrig, and, of course, Babe Ruth and Barry Bonds.  Pitchers who are good for such a park include studs like Cy Young and Greg Maddux.  Here’s a prototype of such a team, which won 99 games for me and the World Series.  It was in a league with a high salary cap, so that allowed me to have the right fit at each position, a luxury you don’t have under a normal or low cap.  However, I think it shows what type of player works best at the various positions -- check it out here:

Randy Johnson and Johnny Mize were acquired mid-season in a trade, while Wally Berger was a late-season free agent pick-up. 

”The Line-Drivers” – Pick a park that favors doubles and triples but kills home runs, then load up on players who hit for the gaps and pitchers who throw lots of Ks.  Good parks for this are Exposition Park, Colt Stadium, Griffith Stadium and several others.  I like strikeout pitchers for such parks because the deep fences negate the home run risk while also allowing fewer balls in play.  Here’s a prototype team (again a hi-cap to demonstrate typical players at each position)… this team actually has my favorite choice for each position to fit the “Line-Driver” strategy, with the possible exception of LF (Ed Delahanty or Joe Jackson are the best choices, but weren’t available or too expensive) and Dan Brouthers at 1b (if you want a lefty)… I went cheap at catcher -- see the team here:

I especially like citing this team because it won 96 games and the World Series in the ongoing keeper league “Who’s Your Daddy?”… where the other owners all now know. 

So what do you find as the most important park factors?  And what was your first major league ball park experience?

Check out our message boards for more advice on picking your park:

What kind of park for a team of very high K pitchers?

Need Advice on Stadiums - Standard Leagues

How important is defense in Coors Field? 

-Dayne

Comments

*Name	*Email
*Comment
*For security, enter the word you see below