from Amazon
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Park Impact
Several years ago, I derided the sabermetricians’ adjustments for parks as much too simplistic. It is an impossibility that Busch affects Coleman, McGee and Clark the same way. This is even more clear if you think of Fenway and Coors. MGL and I have had it out many times, with MGL’s position that “something is better than nothing”, and my position being “something is better than nothing, but still far from acceptable”. I don’t mind seeing “park factors”, as I recently published a set on this blog. The problem is simply applying these base adjustments equally to all players. And worse, with no provision by the author of said adjustments, that a 5% increase for one player might be a 5% decrease for another player, in the same park.
The very resourceful John Walsh comes along with his look at specific players in Fenway Park, the most interesting of all parks for analysts, and most enjoyable of all parks for fans. This is where the focus should be.