So, after seven home games at new Nationals Park, can we tell whether the place is playing any smaller than RFK?
It’s not been particularly kind to the home team so far, with just a pair of victories over Atlanta to display at the moment, but that’s not really the ballpark’s fault. There have been 15 home runs hit there thus far — a dozen by the visitors — for an average of a shade more than two a game. That’s almost double what the first seven games of the 2005 season produced, the Nats’ first season at RFK, when only 8 long flies were struck. It’s a pretty small sample statistically, so let’s have a look at another set of seven games played on East Capitol Street — the very first big league games when it opened as District of Columbia Stadium in 1962.
The second-year expansion Senators opened D.C. Stadium with a 4-1 win over Detroit on April 9, 1962. Washington shortstop Bob Johnson hit the park’s first home run. By the end of seven home games, the total number of home runs hit by both teams was 16, 6 by the Senators, who would go on to hit 65 home runs at home that inaugural season. They also hit 67 home runs on the road, for a season total of 132, which seems like a pretty equitable split for what was essentially a pretty bad (60-101) club.
Washington’s American League franchise managed to hit 616 home runs over 10 full seasons at D.C./RFK Stadium. The high was 77 home runs in 1969, when Frank Howard hit 27 bombs alone, out of 48 for the season. The low was 34 in 1971, when Hondo hit only 26 for the season — only 10 at RFK — and the club was essentially moribund after the disastrous Denny McLain deal.
The Nats’ team RFK home run totals for three seasons were 46, 74 and 48. The much larger number in the middle is due almost entirely to slugger Alfonso Soriano, who hit 46 for the season — 24 at home — before departing as a free agent.
Has the colder weather this month impacted the way the ball carries by the Anacostia? I’m no meteorologist, but I’ll assume it’s had some affect. Of the home runs hit at Nationals Park so far, most have barely cleared the distance — front-row shots or into the bullpen. Again, it’s a small sample, but if the ball doesn’t carry any better when warmer weather arrives, is there a plan B? If the team has issues muscling the ball out of the park, what’s the solution?
Nats’ ownership and the stadium’s architects worked very hard to come up with a field that would play as neutral as possible. Until everyone is healthy — and that’s not yet the case — it may be that the new park plays as big as the old one. It’s going to take a few more months to determine if Washington will enjoy any kind of home-field advantage.
Hear Phil Wood Saturdays at 10 a.m. on SportsTalk 980 AM and is a contributor to Nats Xtra on MASN. Contact him at [email protected].
