Massarotti: Red Sox Mashing At Fenway Park, The Best Home Field Advantage In Baseball
BOSTON (CBS) -- There was a time when Fenway Park was a minefield for visitors, most notably opposing pitchers, and maybe it is now again. Because don't look now, folks, because the Red Sox are teeing off on the enemy as if they're at the driving range.
Oh, the Red Sox are just 9-7 at home following last night's 14-7 victory over a shell-shocked Sonny Gray and the Oakland A's at Fenway Park, but that is a small part of the story. In their last four games at home – all wins – the Red Sox have scored a whopping 34 runs, including 20 in the last three. What you have right now is the best home offense in baseball, which is no small thing for the team's long-term fortunes.
Remember: baseball is the only sport where the playing area changes. There is a strategy to building your roster. And what the Red Sox are doing right now at Fenway is becoming borderline criminal, in both the bigger picture and the small.
For the year, as a team, the Red Sox have now scored 92 runs in 16 home games, an average of 5.75 runs per game that ranks first in the major leagues. Their .287 average and .815 OPS rank second in the game to only the Colorado Rockies, who might as well be playing on the moon. And purely for the purposes of piling on, the Red Sox are 14-for-14 in stolen base attempts, which makes you wonder whether there is anything they cannot do in their own ballpark.
The details: Travis Shaw, who had three hits last night, is batting .362 at home. David Ortiz, who had three hits last night, is batting .357 at home. And Jackie Bradley, who had three hits last night, is hitting .333 at home. Boston is simply teeing off on opposing pitchers, particularly when batting the from the left side, and that spells doom for right-handers bad or good, even someone like Oakland's Sonny Gray.
The Red Sox actually trailed at one point last night, 4-1. The victory was already their eighth come-from-behind win of the season.
Two additional things to keep in mind here:
1. When the Red Sox were in their prime under then-general manager Theo Epstein, they were a bear to pitch to – a lot like Epstein's current team – particularly at Fenway Park. From 2003 through 2011, the Red Sox scored more runs at home than any team in baseball, including the Rockies. Boston's winning percentage at home was second to only the New York Yankees, who ranked fourth in runs scored at home. (That short porch in right field is a huge advantage in New York.) Teams routinely came to Boston and got mauled, which is precisely what is happening again now.
2. The real advantage at Fenway Park comes for left-handed hitters. Again, look at the averages above for Shaw, Ortiz, and Bradley – all left-handed hitters. In the last 60 years, based on a minimum of 1,000 at-bats, the highest career batting averages at Fenway Park belong to, in order: Wade Boggs (.369), Fred Lynn (.347), Nomar Garciaparra (.338), Pete Runnels (.338), and Mo Vaughn (.326). All but Garciaparra batted left-handed. This is part of the reason David Ortiz became the greatest designated hitter in major league history when he came to Boston.
As we all know, there is still a lot of baseball to be played this season. The Red Sox pitching staff remains an area in question, particularly as David Price continues to get his brains beat in and Clay Buchholz gets treated like a punching bag. But Fenway Park last night had the feel of a real home field advantage – in more ways than one – and the Red Sox look like a team that believes in itself.
Especially at home.
