Bread, Circuses, and Fences. Oh, my!

As you will come to find out through this blog, I'm as much of a fan of procrastination and putting things off as anyone. So when the Padres would occasionally discuss altering the dimensions of the park and never really get beyond the idea phase (or only make a minor alteration), I understood where they were coming from. There even appeared to be an attitude shift over the last couple of season, with the organizational philosophy seemingly skewing toward using the ballpark as an advantage, as opposed to fighting it. So, it was much to my surprise that the issue of the fences was raised again by the club, this early in the season.

Why now? The skeptic in me thinks it has something to do with the Padres getting hammered in the PR department. The team is struggling, half of the county can't watch the team on television, and the ownership situation is an embarrassing (yes, Barry Bloom. Embarrassing.) mess. It's a distraction. To many, an appealing one. And while I'm sure I'm on the right path here, I also think this is a discussion worth having...if we agree that this is it, once and for all.

It's at this point that I would like to direct you to a couple of great Hardball Times articles written by Geoff Young: Taking Advantage of Petco Park and Petco Park Revisited.

Rankings since 2009:
Doubles
2010 - .810, 30th
2011 - .904, 23rd

Triples
2010 - 1.300, 7th
2011 - 1.387, 5th

Petco Park suppresses offense, that much is clear. What's also clear is that triples are back in style at Petco Park, so perhaps it's that parks fluctuate in certain areas for unknown reasons. That, or we agree to go with the assumption that the lull from 2006-2010 was due to the departure of Ramon Hernandez.

Petco Park has remained at/near the bottom of Major League Baseball in doubles allowed. I'm not sure how the dimensions of Petco Park come into play here, but anecdotally they don't really seem to. The numbers have remained consistent, even after the minor alterations made in the offseason prior to 2006. I see this as an indicator of something deeper than ballpark dimensions, and I fear moving the fences in even more might made it even more difficult to hit a double. Imagine, if you will, Yonder Alonso being thrown out at first base on a ball hit to the wall. You know it could will happen.

Now, take a look for yourself. These are current hit charts for Padres position players: Yonder Alonso, Orlando Hudson, Jason Bartlett, Chase Headley, Andy Parrino, Nick Hundley, John Baker, Will Venable, Jeremy Hermida, Cam Maybin, Chris Denorfia, Jesus Guzman, Kyle Blanks, and Mark Kotsay.

What does this information show us? This team isn't losing ballgames because balls are dying on Petco Park's warning track. They're losing because of a .640 OPS, 65 runs scored, and 21 errors. As of today, Fangraphs lists us dead last in their base running metric BsR. The team plays with a lack of discipline that is alarming. It points more toward the quality of leadership and the quality of the players on the field, in my opinion.

The problem may very well be Petco Park. I believe it plays a part, to a certain extent. And I'm not even against the idea of moving the fences in. As someone who has long desired a thorough study into why Petco Park plays the way it does, I welcome the idea. I look forward to being able to speak to what makes Petco Park the park that it is, free of speculation. I want to know why.


I do have one thing to ask of the Padres: Please...shit, or get off of the pot. Conduct an extremely thorough investigation into why Petco Park plays the way it does, share that information with your fans, and move forward with whatever it is that you decide to do. For the love of God, give us some good science and make this conversation go away once and for all.* And stop with the distractions. Please?

As a side note, aesthetically, this is my favorite concept for Petco Park. Created by @ParkAtThePark some years ago:

Reasons why I love this concept:

• I am not a fan of "Petco Porch"
• The "Beachers" are the worst seats in the park, they're overpriced, and he has eliminated those in favor of extending the Park at the Park.
• We lose the on-field bullpen.
• If you need to alter dimensions at Petco Park, RF is the place to start.
• There is no golf club in this picture, which pre-dates the golf club. Still, a bonus.

* - never gonna happen