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Yankee Stadium Too Small to Contain Long Balls

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Jun 10, 2009 9:57 AM CDT
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(Newser) – Home runs have been flying out of the new Yankee Stadium, and the weather isn't to blame, writes Tim Buckley of AccuWeather.com. The team says the new park has the same dimensions as the old digs, but the right field wall is actually up to 9 feet closer to home plate in some places, and 2 feet shorter. Buckley's study revealed that 20 of the park's 105 homers can be attributed to that shorter porch.

The stadium is on pace for 293 home runs this year, just shy of the record 303 belted out of Coors Field in 1999. You could thank the shorter right porch for 56 of those. There’s been no consistent weather pattern that would increase home runs, Buckley concludes. “Any weather-related changes would seem to be due to differences between the old and new Yankee Stadiums and their effects on the micro-weather regimes.”

Graphic compares the number of home runs hit at the new and old Yankee Stadiums the past five seasons through the first 29 home games and end of the year.
Graphic compares the number of home runs hit at the new and old Yankee Stadiums the past five seasons through the first 29 home games and end of the year.
New York Yankees' Jorge Posada connects for a sixth-inning, three-run home run off Texas Rangers' Warner Madrigal in a baseball game at Yankee Stadium in New York, Tuesday, June 2, 2009.
New York Yankees' Jorge Posada connects for a sixth-inning, three-run home run off Texas Rangers' Warner Madrigal in a baseball game at Yankee Stadium in New York, Tuesday, June 2, 2009.   (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
A fan looks over a rail for a birds eye view of the stadium from the upper level seats in right field during batting practice before the Yankees played the White Sox, Sept. 18, 2008 at Yankee Stadium.
A fan looks over a rail for a birds eye view of the stadium from the upper level seats in right field during batting practice before the Yankees played the White Sox, Sept. 18, 2008 at Yankee Stadium.   (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 3 comments
NewserHound
Jun 10, 2009 7:21 AM CDT
Good I hate the Yankees
Unaffiliated
Jun 10, 2009 5:48 AM CDT
I heard a story about this on NPR weeks ago. They had a baseball statistician who said you need 3 years of data before making a conclusion that the new ballpark is correlated to an increased number of home runs.
Yourself
Jun 10, 2009 4:03 AM CDT
i love the fact that they say they have the same dimensions, when in reality they don't. Can someone PLEASE check their facts before they go spewing lies, even minor ones like this. What i find amazing in this story is the amount of emphasis they put on being shocked that the number of home runs is on the rise. There's obviously a greater challenge in getting a home run when the wall is 9 feet further and sometimes 2 feet higher. The fact that they tried to replicate the old Yankee stadium is part to blame. Time to move on and make something new, and obviously by NOT doing that they've failed. And now they act surprised. I pitty the fools for being naive.

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