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Not All Ballparks Are Created Equal
By J.J. Cooper
Also: Ballpark Factors For All Full-Season Minor League Stadiums Long before Paul Snyder had ever heard the term "park factor," he knew that not all ballparks were created equal. "Years ago, I looked at some of the places in Texas League. In Midland we said, 'If you don't hit .300 there, you weren't going to hit .300 anywhere,' " said Snyder, a former Braves scouting director who still works as a special-assignment scout for the organization. Snyder and others knew that a .300 average in Midland wasn't the same as a .300 average in the Florida State League. But with few minor league statistics available beyond season-ending numbers, it was impossible to figure out how much of a difference there really was. Now that job is a little easier. With statistical databases making it easy to massage stats in a variety of ways, including home-road splits, it's much easier for teams to figure out exactly how much of a difference there is between 20 home runs in the Florida State League and 20 home runs in the Carolina League. Now park factors are as much a part of the minor league game as they are for major leaguers. Just as teams know that Coors Field could give a solid pitcher a 4.50 ERA, teams also have learned to figure out how much difference there is between the FSL, a pitcher's paradise, and the hitter-happy Texas League. "If we're looking at acquiring a minor league player, I benefit by knowing the ballparks," Rockies farm director Bill Geivett said. "If I see a guy has a 3.20 ERA in New Orleans, that's not the same as a 3.20 in Albuquerque." Trial By Fire If you were a pitcher in the Brewers organization in the 1980s, a 3.20 ERA was a reason to celebrate and probably cause for a promotion. At a time when park factors were just starting to cross the horizon, pitchers in the Brewers organization knew they weren't facing a fair fight. For Brewers pitchers coming through El Paso's Dudley Field in the 1980s, a sub-4.00 ERA was a sign of future success. From 1983-88, the Diablos led the Texas League in hitting every year, while their pitching staff finished worst in the league in ERA three times, and never better than sixth in the eight-team league. When the club added Denver's Mile High Stadium as its Triple-A park in 1987, Brewers farmhands faced two of the best hitter's parks in the minors for back-to-back stops. Dudley Field's cozy dimensions (340 down the lines, and 395 to center field with favorable winds) made it a tough test for any pitcher. But when he was the Brewers' farm director, Bruce Manno viewed it as a potential learning experience. "When we were in the old park in El Paso, we tried to use it to our advantage," said Manno, now the Cardinals' farm director. "We told them, if you could pitch in that park, you can pitch anywhere. You'll see a number of pitchers who pitched there made it to Milwaukee. It really taught you how to pitch." In some ways, the "Dudley Dome" was like boot camp, weeding out pitchers, leaving only the strongest to move on to the majors. But it worked for the Brewers, as Teddy Higuera (8-7, 2.60) and Bill Wegman (4-5, 2.67) survived in 1984, Chris Bosio (11-6, 3.82) endured in 1985, Chuck Crim (2-4, 2.77) in '86 and Jamie Navarro (5-2, 2.47) passed through in 1989. "It was a test to see if you could make adjustments and to see if you could handle it mentally," Manno said. "We were fortunate to have a lot of success with those clubs." On the other hand, plenty of pitchers didn't survive a park that could make a good pitch disappear over the fence. "There were some pitchers that struggled there," Manno said. "But I found that pitchers that struggled there would struggle elsewhere as well. It could be used as an excuse, but it usually meant that you weren't making adjustments." Just Like The Big Leagues Nowadays, many teams try to match their minor league parks to their big league stadium. The Rockies have switched leagues in part to ensure that their hitters and pitchers play in hitter's leagues. After all, if you're going to end up playing in Coors Field, you need to learn how to pitch in parks where mistakes are easily punished. "We feel like we've really gotten into more hitter-friendly ballparks," Geivett said. "Tri-City (Northwest) is the only one that isn't. We like to feel since we play in Coors Field, we will try to replicate that in the minors." To help do that, the Rockies switched their Double-A affiliate from the Southern League, one of the better pitcher's leagues in the minors, to Tulsa in the Texas League. They've studied all sorts of stats to figure out how their parks play. "We look at all the statistical information. Home and road splits play a part in that," Geivett said. "We do studies on our ballparks for home and road splits and left and righthanded splits. We found in a 10-year study of one of our parks that lefthanded hitters' averages on the road were better than at home." The Braves, like the Rockies, have tried to adjust their affiliates to reflect the experience that hitters and pitchers will face in the majors. The Braves had the advantage of helping to design parks in Myrtle Beach and Rome, which means the Class A clubs have dimensions similar to Turner Field. Both have proved to be pitcher's parks, while Richmond and Greenville are relatively neutral. "We all know that the ballpark in Myrtle is a pitcher's ballpark," Snyder said. "In Greenville you have to pitch a little more. A routine fly ball in Myrtle Beach may be over the boards in Greenville." Braves farm director Dayton Moore is happy with that. While Myrtle Beach may turn home runs into flyball outs, he said he believes that it's a good learning experience. "That ballpark in Myrtle, I think it works to our hitters' advantage," he said. "Knowing that the ball doesn't travel as far there, it forces them to use the middle of the field better. It can work to your advantage when you teach hitters. It's all in your approach, how you handle the situation. You can use any environment to your advantage. The minors are for players to adjust." And for scouts to adjust as well. Nowadays, Snyder doesn't have to wonder how Andy Marte's .285-16-63 season in Myrtle Beach last year compares to his .281-21-105 season in Macon in 2002. "With the great statistical things available to us now, we know that Andy Marte suffered somewhat statistically (at Myrtle Beach). But that was only half the games," Snyder said. "It's easier for us to break down a player's year now than it ever was before."
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