This road trip will take the Jays to two of the most historically extreme parks in the game.
Time for lots and lots of Data Tables. If I don't use these skills, I might lose them.
As everyone knows, Coors Field does more to boost offense than any other park in the majors, as a quick look at the runs scored and allowed in the games the Rockies have played there compares with what they and their opponents have done in the other parks.
Coors Field is, in fact, the most hitter friendly park in major league history. Nothing else is close - the Braves' former home, Fulton County Stadium (which was actually known as "The Launching Pad") is a distant second among all the ball parks that hosted at least 1,000 games. (Fulton County's Offensive Impact was a comparatively negligible 1.12)
Can a team win in an extreme park? Teams have certainly won championships in extreme pitcher's parks. Dodger Stadium, the Jays next stop after Colorado, has always been one. The version of Yankee Stadium where Ruth and Gehrig was also one of the greatest pitcher's parks in baseball history and those Yankees teams won some titles. But even the gretest pitcher's parks, which must also include Houston's old Astrodome as well as San Diego's Petco Park (the toughest place to score runs ever) have suppressed offense to anything near the same degree that Coors Field boosts it.
Home Park Road Game Offensive
Team Park Since Scoring Scoring Impact
Colorado Coors Field 1995 28217 20417 1.38
Miami Loan Depot Park 2012 2837 2516 1.13
Arizona Chase Field 1998 20456 18839 1.09
Boston Fenway Park 1912 85207 78476 1.09
Cincinnati Great American Ball Park 2003 16303 15415 1.06
Chicago Cubs Wrigley Field 1916 76820 72912 1.05
Toronto Rogers Centre 1989 26080 25431 1.03
NY Yankees Yankee Stadium II 2009 10671 10414 1.02
Philadelphia Citizens Bank Park 2004 15179 14836 1.02
Atlanta Truist Park 2017 5550 5471 1.01
Milwaukee American Family Field 2001 17051 16833 1.01
Minnesota Target Field 2010 10792 10667 1.01
Chicago White Sox Rate Field 1991 25079 24918 1.01
Texas Globe Life Field 2020 3231 3213 1.01
Baltimore Oriole Park at Camden Yards 1992 24600 24644 1.00
Kansas City Kauffman Stadium 1973 38200 38321 1.00
Detroit Comerica Park 2000 18215 18321 .99
Cleveland Progressive Field 1994 22715 22952 .99
Houston Daikin Park 2000 17634 17892 .99
Pittsburgh PNC Park 2001 16574 16930 .98
LA Angels Angel Stadium 1966 40196 41820 .96
Washington Nationals Park 2008 10923 11606 .94
Tampa Bay Tropicana Field 1998 18640 19809 .94
St, Louis Busch Stadium II 2006 12567 13449 .93
San Francisco Oracle Park 2000 16326 17728 .92
Oakland Oakland Coliseum 1968 38132 41852 .91
LA Dodgers Dodger Stadium 1962 38204 43032 .89
NY Mets Citi Field 2009 10020 11365 .88
Seattle T-Mobile Park 1999 16287 18550 .88
San Diego Petco Park 2004 12983 15075 .86
Coors Field is, in fact, the most hitter friendly park in major league history. Nothing else is close - the Braves' former home, Fulton County Stadium (which was actually known as "The Launching Pad") is a distant second among all the ball parks that hosted at least 1,000 games. (Fulton County's Offensive Impact was a comparatively negligible 1.12)
Can a team win in an extreme park? Teams have certainly won championships in extreme pitcher's parks. Dodger Stadium, the Jays next stop after Colorado, has always been one. The version of Yankee Stadium where Ruth and Gehrig was also one of the greatest pitcher's parks in baseball history and those Yankees teams won some titles. But even the gretest pitcher's parks, which must also include Houston's old Astrodome as well as San Diego's Petco Park (the toughest place to score runs ever) have suppressed offense to anything near the same degree that Coors Field boosts it.
It is true that the best hitter's parks have not fared quite as well as the best pitcher's parks. Fenway Park and Wrigley Field are two of the most famous hitter's parks in the game's history, and their teams have both won championships during the last decade. We should note, however, that both ancient parks, while still being hitter-friendly, did much more to boost offense fifty years ago (before they built the new Fenway press box in the 1980s and before Wrigley finally got lights) than they do today.
Historically, the home team normally wins about 54% of the time. Observe!
So that's your normal Home-Road split. But Coors Field is an extreme park. Do the Rockies have a Home Field Advantage?
Well, here is how everyone has done at home since moving into their current park. (I believe we need a sample size of at least 1,000 games before we can begin to draw conclusions on this type of issue, so feel free to disregard whatever numbers are coughed up for the Braves, the Marlins, and the Rangers.
And here is how they have done in their road games during the same period:
And here, finally, is everyone ranked by the difference in their performance at home and on the road.
No team in major league history has a bigger gap between their performance at home and their performance on the road than the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies have either a Home Game Advantage or a Road Game Disadvantage, and while no one can really be sure which it is, it does look to me like their real issues occur when they come down to sea level.
But the Blue Jays have to play them in Coors Field, and guess what - it's been a problem. The Jays have made five trips there over the years, and they've gone 4-11. They've been swept on three of those five occasions. They've had their way with the Rockies when they get them at sea level - the Jays have gone 9-1 against the Rockies in Canada. But that's not where they're playing this week.
Matchups
Mon 4 Aug - Lauer (6-2, 2.68) vs Gordon (2-3, 4.85)
Tue 5 Aug - Berrios (7-4, 3.84) vs Freeland (2-11, 5.26)
Wed 6 Aug - Gausman (7-8, 3.99) vs S.Guy (?-?, ?.??)
Historically, the home team normally wins about 54% of the time. Observe!
Decade AL NL
1893-1900 --- .607
1901-1910 .569 .534
1911-1920 .538 .536
1921-1930 .545 .548
1931-1940 .549 .549
1941-1950 .552 .541
1951-1960 .535 .544
1961-1970 .540 .540
1971-1980 .535 .541
1981-1990 .545 .536
1991-2000 .529 .542
2001-2010 .550 .539
2011-2020 .534 .534
2021-2024 .522 .536
ALL TIME .541 .543
So that's your normal Home-Road split. But Coors Field is an extreme park. Do the Rockies have a Home Field Advantage?
Well, here is how everyone has done at home since moving into their current park. (I believe we need a sample size of at least 1,000 games before we can begin to draw conclusions on this type of issue, so feel free to disregard whatever numbers are coughed up for the Braves, the Marlins, and the Rangers.
Team Park Since G W L PCT
NY Yankees Yankee Stadium II 2009 1246 766 480 .615
LA Dodgers Dodger Stadium 1962 4989 2919 2070 .585
St, Louis Busch Stadium II 2006 1484 857 627 .577
Atlanta Truist Park 2017 596 344 252 .577
Boston Fenway Park 1912 8795 4985 3810 .567
Cleveland Progressive Field 1994 2417 1362 1055 .564
San Francisco Oracle Park 2000 1979 1107 872 .559
Philadelphia Citizens Bank Park 2004 1655 918 737 .555
Oakland Oakland Coliseum 1968 4504 2496 2008 .554
Houston Daikin Park 2000 1971 1087 884 .551
Colorado Coors Field 1995 2371 1283 1088 .541
Toronto Rogers Centre 1989 2746 1485 1261 .541
Milwaukee American Family Field 2001 1895 1016 879 .536
Chicago Cubs Wrigley Field 1916 8530 4552 3978 .534
Tampa Bay Tropicana Field 1998 2136 1139 997 .533
Seattle T-Mobile Park 1999 1972 1046 926 .530
Chicago White Sox Rate Field 1991 2666 1409 1257 .529
LA Angels Angel Stadium 1966 4678 2462 2216 .526
NY Mets Citi Field 2009 1244 648 596 .521
Arizona Chase Field 1998 2136 1112 1024 .521
San Diego Petco Park 2004 1652 857 795 .519
Kansas City Kauffman Stadium 1973 4090 2108 1982 .515
Washington Nationals Park 2008 1327 682 645 .514
Minnesota Target Field 2010 1165 594 571 .510
Texas Globe Life Field 2020 354 180 174 .508
Cincinnati Great American Ball Park 2003 1729 874 855 .505
Detroit Comerica Park 2000 1970 990 980 .503
Baltimore Oriole Park at Camden Yards 1992 2584 1293 1291 .500
Pittsburgh PNC Park 2001 1891 945 946 .500
Miami Loan Depot Park 2012 324 152 172 .469
And here is how they have done in their road games during the same period:
Team Park Since G W L PCT
Atlanta Truist Park 2017 597 332 265 .556
NY Yankees Yankee Stadium II 2009 1244 658 586 .529
LA Dodgers Dodger Stadium 1962 4989 2559 2430 .513
Cleveland Progressive Field 1994 2431 1221 1210 .502
St, Louis Busch Stadium II 2006 1489 747 742 .502
San Francisco Oracle Park 2000 1966 945 1021 .481
Houston Daikin Park 2000 1976 942 1033 .477
Philadelphia Citizens Bank Park 2004 1645 784 861 .477
Oakland Oakland Coliseum 1968 4496 2118 2379 .471
Seattle T-Mobile Park 1999 1976 929 1047 .470
Toronto Rogers Centre 1989 2756 1293 1463 .469
NY Mets Citi Field 2009 1246 583 663 .468
Boston Fenway Park 1912 8843 4119 4672 .466
LA Angels Angel Stadium 1966 4703 2177 2473 .463
Milwaukee American Family Field 2001 1891 871 1020 .461
Chicago White Sox Rate Field 1991 2671 1224 1447 .458
Arizona Chase Field 1998 2136 975 1161 .456
Washington Nationals Park 2008 1323 603 720 .456
Minnesota Target Field 2010 1163 527 636 .453
San Diego Petco Park 2004 1649 746 903 .452
Chicago Cubs Wrigley Field 1916 8461 3815 4646 .451
Tampa Bay Tropicana Field 1998 2134 952 1182 .446
Baltimore Oriole Park at Camden Yards 1992 2641 1163 1427 .440
Cincinnati Great American Ball Park 2003 1736 761 975 .438
Detroit Comerica Park 2000 1974 851 1122 .431
Kansas City Kauffman Stadium 1973 4153 1722 2431 .415
Miami Loan Depot Park 2012 324 130 194 .401
Pittsburgh PNC Park 2001 1890 753 1137 .398
Texas Globe Life Field 2020 354 138 216 .390
Colorado Coors Field 1995 2370 918 1452 .387
And here, finally, is everyone ranked by the difference in their performance at home and on the road.
Team Home Road Park Team Park Since Games PCT PCT Advantage Colorado Coors Field 1995 4741 .541 .387 .154 Texas Globe Life Field 2020 708 .508 .390 .119 Pittsburgh PNC Park 2001 3781 .500 .398 .101 Boston Fenway Park 1912 17638 .567 .466 .101 Kansas City Kauffman Stadium 1973 8243 .515 .415 .101 Tampa Bay Tropicana Field 1998 4270 .533 .446 .087 NY Yankees Yankee Stadium II 2009 2490 .615 .529 .086 Oakland Oakland Coliseum 1968 9000 .554 .471 .083 Chicago Cubs Wrigley Field 1916 16991 .534 .451 .083 San Francisco Oracle Park 2000 3945 .559 .481 .079 Philadelphia Citizens Bank Park 2004 3300 .555 .477 .078 St, Louis Busch Stadium II 2006 2973 .577 .502 .076 Milwaukee American Family Field 2001 3786 .536 .461 .076 Houston Daikin Park 2000 3947 .551 .477 .075 LA Dodgers Dodger Stadium 1962 9978 .585 .513 .072 Toronto Rogers Centre 1989 5502 .541 .469 .072 Detroit Comerica Park 2000 3944 .503 .431 .071 Chicago White Sox Rate Field 1991 5337 .529 .458 .070 Miami Loan Depot Park 2012 648 .469 .401 .068 Cincinnati Great American Ball Park 2003 3465 .505 .438 .067 San Diego Petco Park 2004 3301 .519 .452 .066 Arizona Chase Field 1998 4272 .521 .456 .064 LA Angels Angel Stadium 1966 9381 .526 .463 .063 Cleveland Progressive Field 1994 4848 .564 .502 .061 Seattle T-Mobile Park 1999 3948 .530 .470 .060 Baltimore Oriole Park at Camden Yards 1992 5225 .500 .440 .060 Washington Nationals Park 2008 2650 .514 .456 .058 Minnesota Target Field 2010 2328 .510 .453 .057 NY Mets Citi Field 2009 2490 .521 .468 .053 Atlanta Truist Park 2017 1193 .577 .556 .021
No team in major league history has a bigger gap between their performance at home and their performance on the road than the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies have either a Home Game Advantage or a Road Game Disadvantage, and while no one can really be sure which it is, it does look to me like their real issues occur when they come down to sea level.
But the Blue Jays have to play them in Coors Field, and guess what - it's been a problem. The Jays have made five trips there over the years, and they've gone 4-11. They've been swept on three of those five occasions. They've had their way with the Rockies when they get them at sea level - the Jays have gone 9-1 against the Rockies in Canada. But that's not where they're playing this week.
Matchups
Mon 4 Aug - Lauer (6-2, 2.68) vs Gordon (2-3, 4.85)
Tue 5 Aug - Berrios (7-4, 3.84) vs Freeland (2-11, 5.26)
Wed 6 Aug - Gausman (7-8, 3.99) vs S.Guy (?-?, ?.??)
