Comments on: Wade Boggs – HOF if he didn’t play for Boston? http://www.baseball-reference.com/blog/archives/838 This and that about baseball stats. Thu, 07 Jan 2010 03:48:43 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: kingturtle http://www.baseball-reference.com/blog/archives/838/comment-page-1#comment-5670 kingturtle Tue, 14 Oct 2008 11:26:13 +0000 http://www.baseball-reference.com/sotd/?p=838#comment-5670 Carew played mostly at Metropolitan Stadium (832 games), and only a handful at the Metrodome (24). ;) Carew played mostly at Metropolitan Stadium (832 games), and only a handful at the Metrodome (24). ;)

]]> By: Andy http://www.baseball-reference.com/blog/archives/838/comment-page-1#comment-5669 Andy Tue, 14 Oct 2008 01:44:34 +0000 http://www.baseball-reference.com/sotd/?p=838#comment-5669 Ah, thanks for pointing out my mistake with the tOPS+. The rest of your arguments are also valid, although I didn't mean to say that he wasn't a great player both at home and on the road. I'm just wondering out loud if he would have made the HOF. As for most players hitting better at home than the road, that's certainly true, but let's look at a couple of Boggs' comps. Tony Gwynn hit .343/.393/.466 at home and .334/.384/.451 on the road. That's a much smaller disparity than Boggs had. We can attribute a fair amount of that to the fact that Jack Murphy Stadium was much closer to neutral than Fenway Park. However I don't think that alone explains why Gwynn was so much more consistent. Kirby Puckett, however, looks a lot more like Boggs. Home .344/.388/.521 and away .291/.331/.430. If I recall correctly, the Metrodome was a favorable place for hitters in the 80s and 90s. The guy Boggs is most similar to is Rod Carew. Home .333/.401/.434 and away .323/.385/.425, playing mostly in the Metrodome like Puckett. And when I applied Boggs' road average to replace his home performance, I said right up front that was back-of-the-envelope. Ah, thanks for pointing out my mistake with the tOPS+. The rest of your arguments are also valid, although I didn't mean to say that he wasn't a great player both at home and on the road. I'm just wondering out loud if he would have made the HOF.

As for most players hitting better at home than the road, that's certainly true, but let's look at a couple of Boggs' comps. Tony Gwynn hit .343/.393/.466 at home and .334/.384/.451 on the road. That's a much smaller disparity than Boggs had. We can attribute a fair amount of that to the fact that Jack Murphy Stadium was much closer to neutral than Fenway Park. However I don't think that alone explains why Gwynn was so much more consistent.

Kirby Puckett, however, looks a lot more like Boggs. Home .344/.388/.521 and away .291/.331/.430. If I recall correctly, the Metrodome was a favorable place for hitters in the 80s and 90s.

The guy Boggs is most similar to is Rod Carew. Home .333/.401/.434 and away .323/.385/.425, playing mostly in the Metrodome like Puckett.

And when I applied Boggs' road average to replace his home performance, I said right up front that was back-of-the-envelope.

]]> By: JohnnyTwisto http://www.baseball-reference.com/blog/archives/838/comment-page-1#comment-5668 JohnnyTwisto Tue, 14 Oct 2008 01:34:55 +0000 http://www.baseball-reference.com/sotd/?p=838#comment-5668 Hold on. You are misinterpreting the numbers and misrepresenting Boggs. His career OPS+ is 130, not 100. The tOPS+ numbers are a comparison to the player himself, not to the league. If you take Boggs's career as the baseline, _then_ his road OPS+ is "only" 82. His road OPS is still over 100 if compared to the rest of the league. Furthermore, it is never fair to simply look at a player's road stats and assume that is his true talent. 1st, all players in general perform worse on the road. 2nd, that denies Boggs any games at all in Fenway, which especially early in his career was a great hitter's park. 3rd, Fenway is such a unique park that I think many Red Sox players have more extreme home/road splits than is typical. As you acknowledge, Boggs was probably able to tailor his swing to take advantage of Fenway, but this may have cost him a bit on the road. The guy was as good as anyone on a very good '94 Yankees team -- when he was 36 years old and supposedly over the hill. I have no doubt Boggs's greatness would have been evident on most teams in most eras of baseball history. Hold on. You are misinterpreting the numbers and misrepresenting Boggs. His career OPS+ is 130, not 100. The tOPS+ numbers are a comparison to the player himself, not to the league. If you take Boggs's career as the baseline, _then_ his road OPS+ is "only" 82. His road OPS is still over 100 if compared to the rest of the league.

Furthermore, it is never fair to simply look at a player's road stats and assume that is his true talent. 1st, all players in general perform worse on the road. 2nd, that denies Boggs any games at all in Fenway, which especially early in his career was a great hitter's park. 3rd, Fenway is such a unique park that I think many Red Sox players have more extreme home/road splits than is typical. As you acknowledge, Boggs was probably able to tailor his swing to take advantage of Fenway, but this may have cost him a bit on the road.

The guy was as good as anyone on a very good '94 Yankees team -- when he was 36 years old and supposedly over the hill. I have no doubt Boggs's greatness would have been evident on most teams in most eras of baseball history.

]]> By: kingturtle http://www.baseball-reference.com/blog/archives/838/comment-page-1#comment-5667 kingturtle Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:50:13 +0000 http://www.baseball-reference.com/sotd/?p=838#comment-5667 You took the words right out of my mouth: "I’m sure he would have tailored his game to wherever his home park was." He did prove in 1994 that he could do well at home. As a Yankee he hit .359 at home, .324 away (and only .167 at Fenway that year). Also, let's not forget he won two gold gloves, and they were post-Red Sox. How does Boggs compare, by the way, to other thirdbasemen of his era? Gaetti? HoJo? Can you compare Boggs' away stats with their overall stats? You took the words right out of my mouth: "I’m sure he would have tailored his game to wherever his home park was." He did prove in 1994 that he could do well at home. As a Yankee he hit .359 at home, .324 away (and only .167 at Fenway that year). Also, let's not forget he won two gold gloves, and they were post-Red Sox.

How does Boggs compare, by the way, to other thirdbasemen of his era? Gaetti? HoJo? Can you compare Boggs' away stats with their overall stats?

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