Hitters Don't Like MMP???? HUH?

These are both quotes from Kent??

Hmmm... amazing how winning can change your outlook.

 

Jeff Kent (Home) - .310 avg, 10 HR's, 48 RBI's OBP of .365

Jeff Kent (Away) .265 avg, 10 HR's, 37 RBI's, OBP of .319

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/splits?statsId=4826

 

He's got a point, if you like hitting the ball to center, you're out of luck at MMP. As he said, it makes you more of a pull hitter becasue you see that short porch in left.

 

Those stats take into account his hitting in all away ballparks, he didn't say he likes hitting on the road more than home. What are his stats like just at Great American Ballpark?

 

Berkman is always saying something to that effect about MMP. In fact, one year I think management even spoke to him about being critical of the new park.

 

This is why I've never seen MMP as the "bandbox" that many people like to call it. We lose a ton of homeruns to center and the power alleys that more than make up for a couple cheap shots that land in the Crawford boxes. Gagne's save streak would have been over a year ago anywhere but at MMP when Berkman flew out to the hill.

 

Read it closer...he says MMP is not a good "power" park, as in home runs. And it's not, because of the deep allies and center, and the enticement to aim for the porch, which can screw up your swing.

 

MMP is the ultimate enigma... I've always thought this since year 1.

It can't be classified as simply a hitters park mainly because it NEUTRALIZES the great power hitters with the deep CF and RCF.

Thus, allofasudden, Adam Everett is almost just as likely to hit a HR in MMP as Vladimir Guerrero or Sammy Sosa (guys who aren't just pull hitters).

I've always found it comical that MMP gives a cheap HR to LF, but takes away a legit HR to CF. The psychological factor of that LF porch is huge... both on the hitters, and the pitchers. Combine all of this with the chance that a ball can hit the roof in foul territory and be declared dead, but hit the roof in fair territory and be declared "in play" turns MMP into the #1 ballpark in MLB where the stadium can determine a game (Fenway, Coors, and the Metrodome are also there).

But... would I change the stadium to eliminate all of this... not a chance in hell. I'd much rather be talking about stuff like this, all the while sitting in seats that offer the best views of the field in all of MLB... than playing in a neutral (boring) park.

Edit: as for the Kent comments, I distinctly remember--when he played for San Fran, and just tore us a new one in the 2001 series when Dierker refused to pitch to Bonds-- that he LOVED MMP, and said that any hitter would be crazy not to want to play here... because this ballpark would add miles to your stats alone (I also believe Bonds said the same thing when the ballpark opened). I guess he would rather play in a park where he wasn't "expected" to put up big HR numbers... like Pac Bell... rather than one where if you don't hit 35-40 HR's playing an entire year there, there's something wrong w/ you.

 

For what it's worth, we're .500 at home and 7 games over .500 on the road this year.

I wish we could just stay on the road for a few more weeks. I don't want to jinx anything.

 

I read an article about 3 months back that listed the top five ball parks that allowed cheap homers and that listed the top five that stole homers. MMP was in the top 5 in both by allowing cheap homers down the line and stealing them up the middle.

 

Berkman says that his a lot of his power is to centerfield. Reference the shots he hit the past week against the cubs and reds, they were to the power alleys and to straight-away center. Even the ball Pena made that nice catch on at the wall was to dead center. So in that sense, maybe he's just saying his swing is not tailored to MMP.

 

I was reading today in the CHronicle that Berkman is not much of a fan of MMP either. He says it hurts his game a lot because he hits most of his stuff to center, left center, and right center field. In MMP they would be fly outs.

IIRC I read that he has hit 6HR in Red town in 10 games, and has done the same # of HR in MMP in 215AB's.

EDIT: Crap, I pretty much repeated what was said in the previous post....

 

In the homerun derby it sure looked like Berkman was comfortable in MMP.