Stat of the Week

Yesterday's Recap

An ominous start but a key double play and Jimenez got into the groove.  The offensive banged out 10 hits and started looking like the team we expect to see at the plate.  Holliday had some key hits and knocked in two.  Things got tight after Jimenez allowed a 2-run homerun to allow the Braves to get within a run but the bullpen came in and shut the door (ok Fuentes made it look interesting).  Good win...and is anyone as annoyed and confused by the the Beef radio commercial on the Rockies broadcast?  What the heck is Matthew McConaughey saying?Protein Pills and Loins?  Can we just get back to good baseball talk?

Stat of the Week

Last we talked about ERA and ERA+ and how ERA+ uses a stat that takes into account park factor.  What is a park factor?

Park Factor compares the rate of stats at home vs. the rate of stats on the road.

A rate higher than 1.000 favors the hitter. Below 1.000 favors the pitcher  (generally these numbers are rounded to 100).

PF = ((homeRS + homeRA)/(homeG)) / ((roadRS + roadRA)/(roadG))

That of course is the simple definition but get too many baseball guys in a room and they have to adjust so if you care to see refinements and such, check the website here.  So what does the history of the Rockies show?

Year	PF	Year	PF	Year	PF
1993	117/118	1994	117/118	1995	129/129
1996	123/124	1997	122/123	1998	121/122
1999	127/127	2000	125/125	2001	122/122
2002	116/116	2003	115/116	2004	113/114
2005	112/113	2006	109/109	2007	108/108

In 1995 Coors Field was about 29% or 29% more friendlier to hitters than other parks.  Yikes, obviously since the advent of the humidor the park factor has become a bit more respectable but still favors the hitters.