Total MLB Home Runs This Century - Graph of the Day

by Justin Bopp on Sep 21, 2009 8:38 AM EDT in Visuals Above Replacement

Beyond-the-gotd_medium

I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'.

The second in this continuing series, This Century, we see another standard counting stat drop significantly over the past 10 years. This time, it's home runs dropping from the 2000-2004 average of 5400 drop to a 2005-2009 average of 5000. Shocking on its own, but 2009 looks to have a more-than-300 home run drop from that. That's flabbergasting.

What changed? (more after the jump)

I submit to you the following:

Blame San Francisco.

YEAR	TOTAL HR	RANK
2000	226	6th
2001	235	2nd
2002	198	6th
2003	180	12th
2004	183	17th
2005	128	28th
2006	163	22nd
2007	131	25th
2008	94	30th
2009*	109	29th

Obviously, they represent a fraction of the Major League's power recession, but that San-Fran chart above certainly eerily mirrors the MLB chart does it not? What gives? One could make an argument that the mirror is merely a reflection of the renewed focus on sabermetric principles from front offices on their pitching staff, but wouldn't they also use that to help their batters? I could dance around the topic all day, but the truth is that it's probably just regression to the mean. Right?

Yes, I'm pretty much sayin'. ;)

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r-squared = 0.84

I’m just sayin’

by TroyPatterson on Sep 21, 2009 10:20 AM EDT reply actions

Yikes. That's pretty close.

"What we do in life, echoes in eternity!"

by Justin Bopp on Sep 21, 2009 10:47 AM EDT up reply actions

"wouldn't they also use that to help their batters?"

Yes, but with a renewed emphasis on defense, some of the Miguel Tejada’s have been replaced with Elvis Andrus’s. I can’t imagine that effect could cause that huge drop off, but its probably part of it.

by lookatthosetwins on Sep 21, 2009 11:47 AM EDT reply actions