Question: How much do natural effects (temperature, air pressure and elevation) change the distance a baseball is hit?
Why I asked the question? I wanted this answered for several reasons. Do batters heat up during the summer or does the ball travel farther? Is pitching better in the playoffs or is it just cooler temperature limiting offense? Which parks, do to their elevation, become a hitters park? Does the ball fly further in Tucson (which 1200 ft higher) vice Phoenix area (~10 degrees warmer) during spring training?
Analysis: The changes in baseball fight distance I from natural effects are from the book "The Physics of Baseball" by Robert K Adair. There is a brief summary of the book at:
http://www.bostonbaseball.com/whitesox/baseball_extras/physics.html
The three effects I wanted to take into account were temperature, air pressure and elevation. Here are the effects each one has on a ball hit 400ft:
1000 feet of increase in altitude |
+7 Feet |
10 increase in degrees of air temp |
+4 Feet |
1 inch drop in Barometer |
+6 Feet |
I compared all hit balls using a baseline of a stadium at sea level that is at 70 degrees F and at 29.2 in of pressure. Elevations were collected from various location while the weather information was collected from:
http://www.worldclimate.com/
After collecting the weather effects I went ahead and added park dimensions and park factors. The information could be used in several way such as comparing a new stadium to other parks with similar attributes. There are a few studies I plan to examine, but I am tired of looking at the data.
Note: I had problem getting pressure for all location and those that don't have pressure information are marked with an asterisk (*).
Here is the link to all Major and Minor league stadiums with information on natural effects, stadium size and park effects:
http://tucsonroyal.com/Ballpark_info.xls
Major League Baseball Team | Park | April | May | June | July | Aug | Sept | Oct |
Arizona Diamondbacks | Chase Field | 407 | 411 | 415 | 417 | 417 | 414 | 409 |
Atlanta Braves | Turner Field | 402 | 406 | 409 | 409 | 409 | 407 | 402 |
Baltimore Orioles | Oriole Park at Camden Yards | 394 | 398 | 402 | 404 | 403 | 400 | 395 |
Boston Red Sox | Fenway Park | 391 | 395 | 399 | 401 | 400 | 397 | 392 |
Chicago Cubs | Wrigley Field | 396 | 400 | 404 | 406 | 405 | 402 | 398 |
Chicago White Sox | U.S. Cellular Field | 396 | 400 | 404 | 406 | 405 | 402 | 398 |
Cincinnati Reds | Great American Ball Park | 397 | 401 | 404 | 406 | 405 | 402 | 397 |
Cleveland Indians * | Progressive Field | 396 | 400 | 404 | 405 | 405 | 402 | 398 |
Colorado Rockies | Coors Field | 428 | 432 | 435 | 438 | 437 | 433 | 428 |
Detroit Tigers | Comerica Park | 395 | 399 | 403 | 405 | 404 | 401 | 396 |
Florida Marlins | Dolphin Stadium | 401 | 403 | 404 | 404 | 405 | 404 | 403 |
Houston Astros * | Minute Maid Park | 400 | 402 | 404 | 405 | 405 | 404 | 400 |
Kansas City Royals * | Kauffman Stadium | 399 | 403 | 407 | 409 | 408 | 405 | 401 |
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim | Angel Stadium of Anaheim | 397 | 399 | 400 | 402 | 403 | 402 | 400 |
Los Angeles Dodgers | Dodger Stadium | 400 | 401 | 402 | 404 | 405 | 404 | 402 |
Milwaukee Brewers * | Miller Park | 394 | 398 | 402 | 404 | 404 | 401 | 397 |
Minnesota Twins | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 407 | 407 | 407 | 407 | 407 | 406 | 406 |
New York Mets | Shea Stadium | 393 | 397 | 400 | 402 | 402 | 398 | 394 |
New York Yankees | Yankee Stadium | 393 | 397 | 400 | 402 | 402 | 399 | 394 |
Oakland Athletics | Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum | 394 | 395 | 397 | 397 | 398 | 398 | 396 |
Philadelphia Phillies * | Citizens Bank Park | 393 | 397 | 401 | 403 | 402 | 399 | 394 |
Pittsburgh Pirates | PNC Park | 397 | 401 | 405 | 406 | 405 | 402 | 398 |
St. Louis Cardinals | Busch Stadium | 397 | 401 | 405 | 406 | 406 | 402 | 397 |
San Diego Padres | PETCO Park | 396 | 397 | 398 | 400 | 400 | 400 | 398 |
San Francisco Giants | AT&T Park | 394 | 394 | 395 | 395 | 396 | 397 | 396 |
Seattle Mariners | Safeco Field | 391 | 394 | 396 | 397 | 397 | 395 | 393 |
Tampa Bay Rays * | Tropicana Field | 400 | 400 | 400 | 400 | 400 | 400 | 400 |
Texas Rangers * | Rangers Ballpark in Arlington | 402 | 405 | 408 | 410 | 410 | 407 | 403 |
Toronto Blue Jays | Rogers Centre | 391 | 395 | 399 | 401 | 401 | 397 | 393 |
Washington Nationals | Nationals Park | 394 | 398 | 401 | 403 | 402 | 399 | 394 |