5 Key Home-Field Advantages the S.F. Giants Will Have in the Postseason

Every stadium offers advantages to its home team—no matter the sport. But baseball stadiums stand out from other sporting venues, since each one is designed to be a little different than others, whether it be the outfield distances, foul ground, or a grassy hill beyond the warning track in center field.

San Francisco's AT&T Park has one of the most unique designs of the modern-era parks, with Triples Alley, the chance to hit home runs over a high brick wall and into the bay, and an avocado growing tree behind the center field fence.

The nuances of the playing field, along with heavy coastal air and a passionate fan base that doesn't let too many seats go cold during games, give the Giants a great home field advantage—which will help them come playoff time.

Here are five advantages AT&T Park offers the home team this postseason.

An Underlying Pitching Advantage

It's hard enough trying to bat against Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner or a resurgent Tim Lincecum in any park. Now put them in the cavernous AT&T Park—by far the worst home run park this season, and it's downright unfair for opponents. Factor in a suffocating bullpen, and it's easy to see how the Giants have yielded the least amount of home runs at home this season. 

But San Francisco's pitching staff won't be the only formidable one in the National League playoffs. The Giants rank fifth in the NL in team ERA. Three of the four teams ranked ahead of them are playoff bound, while the fourth team, Los Angeles, is still in the wild-card race. The team with the sixth-best ERA is St. Louis, which currently holds the second wild-card spot.

The advantage for the Giants, however, is that they will be facing lineups conditioned to rely on home runs for a big chunk of their scoring. For Cincinnati and Washington, 26 percent of each of these team's runs this season have been scored by players hitting home runs (this only factors in the home run hitter, not anyone on base when the home run was hit). Home runs account for 22 percent of Atlanta's total runs and 21 percent of St. Louis'. For the Giants, however, home runs account for just 13 percent of their runs—yet they've scored more runs this season than all of their likely postseason foes, except for St. Louis.

So Nationals or Reds pitchers might not have to fear giving up the long ball at AT&T, but that doesn't mean they're taking away a vital part of San Francisco's offense. On the flip side, visiting offenses will lose a major weapon when they go up against the Giants' pitchers.

San Francisco Bay Air

The California coast has some of the most mild weather in North America. In San Francisco, consecutive 80-degree days constitutes a heat wave, while people shake rain sticks in hopes of enough water falling from the sky to recharge the reservoirs. 

So, as baseball's postseason approaches, accompanied by shorter days and plummeting temperatures around the country, the Bay Area would seem to be the ideal place for a playoff series. After all, players don't have to worry about sliding on frozen fields or seeing their breath turn solid in front of their faces.

But San Francisco cold isn't about some reading on a thermometer. It's about dreary fog slowly marching in from the Pacific and hovering above like one of those space ships from Independence Day (pardon the bad-movie reference). It's about making it impossible to know whether to bring a jacket, and then punishing you if you don't. 

Okay, that's really not so bad. But the thick coastal air does have a practical impact on baseball games. While players won't be seeing their breath freezing in front of their faces, they will most certainly see some of their booming home runs turned into routine fly-outs. That alone, considering San Francisco's style of play—which depends mostly on pitching and small ball—could make a huge difference in the outcome of a game or two.

Triples Alley and Other Outfield Oddities

Whether it's opposing hitters launching outs to Triples Alley, or opposing right fielders guessing how a ball will ricochet off the right field bricks, AT&T Park is one of the league's most challenging stadiums for visiting teams.

It's challenging for the Giants as well, considering they've only hit 28 home runs at home this season. But as their 67 home runs on the road would suggest, the Giants aren't built to be a power-hitting team. Rather, for the first time in PacBell-SBC-AT&T Park history, the offense is constructed to fit the stadium: High averages and speed, with a tad of right-handed power. 

None of San Francisco's potential playoff opponents—the Nationals, Reds, Braves, or any of the other wild-card hopefuls—is built in a way that takes advantage of AT&T's quirks, with the exception of possibly the Cardinals. And if the Giants reach the World Series, the American League contenders are even less suited for AT&T. 

Plus, with playoff series often hinging on just a few key plays, a visiting outfielder ability to field an odd bounce off Levi's Landing in right field or a low liner toward the 421-foot sign could have a huge impact on who advances to the next round.

Pandas and Giraffes and Beards, Oh...Giants Fans

The greatest home-field advantage of all is a supportive, passionate fan base. With regular sell-outs and fans wearing costume pieces emulating the persona's of their favorite players, the Giants have just that.

AT&T isn't exactly the most hostile place to play—the San Francisco crowd isn't as edgy as what you might find in Boston or Philadelphia. But Giants fans are just as dedicated, in their own goofy way, as any fan base. 

So when either the Reds, the Nationals or possibly the Braves (the top wild-card qualifier) make their way to AT&T Park this postseason, they'll walk into a stadium filled with wine-sipping, fake-beard-wearing, panda-and giraffe-hat-wearing fans who are crazy about their team and just as hungry for a second World Series title as they were for the first one two years ago.

Regardless of the costumes, Giants fans show plenty of support purely by showing up in mass. While Cincinnati, Washington and Atlanta each average around 29,000 fans a game this season, San Francisco draws more than 41,000. That number certainly won't drop come playoff time.

Recent Memories of Winning It All

It's only been two years since San Francisco won the World Series, so the experience is still quite fresh for all the players and coaches who were a part of that team. Plus, many of the young stars from that squad, including Buster Posey, Matt Cain and Madison Bumgarner, have gotten better since then.

Among the other NL contenders, however, only one can say the same. The Cardinals have won two titles in the last six years, including last year's. Even without skipper Tony LaRussa or superstar Albert Pujols, St. Louis shouldn't be daunted by the postseason pressure.

As for the other teams, the last time any of them even reached the World Series was 1999, when the Braves were swept by the Yankees. The Nationals/Expos have never been to a World Series, Cincinnati hasn't been since 1990, and neither the Dodgers nor the Brewers has reached the championship round since the 1980s.

Now, any team can charge into the playoffs and seize the moment, much like the Giants did two years ago. But it won't be easy for any team that has to head to AT&T Park, where they'll be confronted by a playoff-tested team and 41,503 fans hungry for another World Series trophy.