Temperature in MLB, or, Why It's Good to have Miller Park

[TooLiveBrew]

Mods, not sure if this is more appropriate in MLB or Stats, so feel free to move (obviously). Came across a two-part look at how temperature/weather impacts baseball by Jonathan Hale of Baseball Digest Daily.

 

 

Pt. 1: "Some Like it Hot"

 

Pt. 2: "Hot Spots & Cool Breezes"

 

 

Honestly, there isn't much that you might not expect. However, it's interesting to see how the different MLB cities grade out in terms of temperature & wind. Hale also offers a cursory look at how FBs & CBs movement is affected by temp.

 

 

"Not only do hitters have a very hard time in the coldest of weather, there is a steady climb from the worst numbers in the bitter cold up to the low 80's, where results level off. And the swing is significant- batters in weather under 50 degrees Fahrenheit average .249/.318/.410 while in a pleasant 81-85, they hit .297/.356/.468.

I'm sure some of you have caught on to the fact that this could be putting the cart before the horse - maybe hitters are just catching up to pitchers as the year goes on and they shake off the rust of a long off-season, and temperatures just happen to be going up at the same time during the hot summer months. While that's possible that has an effect as well, except for a very poor April, last year hitters didn't do any better as the season went on"

[sbrylski]

Every 10 degrees add 4 feet of distance to batted balls, too, which is definitely another reason for hitters doing well in warmer weather.

[Mike2k33]

I just can't believe that temperature for Wrigley. Not with all those cold days April-June. No way.

[TooLiveBrew]

Yeah, and as Hale points out, take a look at the U.S. Cellular temp - something tells me the true temp for Chicago lies somewhere between the two numbers.

[1992casey]

Mods, not sure if this is more appropriate in MLB or Stats, so feel free to move (obviously).

 

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