Ballparks Make a Difference

Now that Matt Holliday is back in the National League and hitting again, many sports writers cite his turnaround as proof that the AL is a much better league than the NL.  For example, Jon Heyman’s article, which I commented on recently, stated that American League pitchers had figured out how to pitch to Holliday.

I’m not so sure.  I think an awful lot of what people perceive to be a drop off in Holliday’s performance really had to do with going from the best hitters’ park in baseball (Coors Field) to the worst (Oakland’ McAfee Coliseum).

I note the following: Holliday’s .832 OPS while playing for Oakland, leads all A’s hitters this year with more than two at-bats.  Granted, the A’s don’t have a great hitting team, even playing in an extreme pitchers’ park, but Holliday still leads the team.

Holliday had an .877 OPS playing in the Coliseum this year, as compared to a home OPS of 1.077 playing the three previous years in Denver.  His road OPS for 2006 through 2008 was .856, very similar to what he did in the Coliseum this year.

Admittedly, Holliday didn’t play well on the road in the AL this year, but one can expect that a player will generally hit better at home, all things being equal.  Also, this was his first season in the AL, meaning he has little experience with any of the other parks in the AL, not to mention the American League’s pitchers.

It seems that, based on the perception that he is a National League hitter, the NL teams will be the ones offering top dollar this off-season (remember, Holliday is a Boras client, which means nine times out of ten, the team putting the most money on the table gets the player).  However, I suspect that if Holliday signed with the Red Sox for 201o and beyond, he’d put up substantially more impressive numbers for the life of the contract than if he signed for the Dodgers or the Padres.  The home ballpark has a lot to do with it.