Fans, sportscasters, players, and Vegas all talk about "home field advantage". After the recent stretch of games the Nationals have played on the road, I started to think about different ball parks around the league that actually gave some sort of advantage.
Lets take a little tour through the parks I feel provide an unfair edge:
Showing posts with label RFK Stadium. Show all posts
Showing posts with label RFK Stadium. Show all posts
In The Defense Of Nationals Fandom: Part III
DC Sports Nexus ---- Thursday, May 24, 2012
Each Thursday We Let A Nats Fan Sound Off, Because Quite Frankly, The Fans Know More Than We Do
This Week's Entry Is a 3-Parter Written By A Huge Nats Fan From Twitter: @TClippardsSpecs
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“I Never Think Of The Future. It Comes Soon Enough.”
-Albert Einstein
What does the future hold? Let's take a look at some more recent statistics to find out. Because the Vet was so terrible, and the new Citizen's Bank Park is such a better/cozier place to watch a ballgame, we will look at some numbers for CBP:
Since Nationals Park only has 4 years of existence under it's belt, let's only
considered the first four years (2004-2007) for Citizens Bank Park.
Keep in mind, these are the years prior to their 2008/2009 World Series appearances, as well as their 102 win 2011 season. The average attendances from 2008 forward are in the 42,000-47,000 range. Think about those numbers, compared to Veterans Stadium averages – quite a difference a new stadium makes.
Winning also plays a role, but in this comparison it's somewhat irrelevant, if you consider the history of the Phillies at the Vet. In 33 seasons at the Vet, the Phillies had 3 World Series appearances, winning in 1980, 13 winning seasons, with 2 of them being 100+ win seasons -- very comparable to their CBP years thus far.
So where does that take us, and what does the past tell us about today?
Comparing losing seasons between the two teams shows that in spite of what Philadelphians might think, their accusations of bad Nats fandom should fall on deaf ears. If they need confirmation, they need look no further than the Phillies of the 1990's. While a number of fans showed up to root for a losing team, they didn't do it with the dedication that Nationals fans had.
What we currently see also gives hope to the Nationals fan. A flirtation with first place, the promise of a great pitching staff, all combined with a highly regarded farm system bodes well for the future. With the Nats on the up & up, and the Phillies at a injury plagued crossroads, will the tables turn for these teams?
Things Are Looking A Bit Different Nowadays
In 2012, the Phillies/Nats series drew on average almost 10,000 more fans in Philly than it did in DC. And DC's series was a beautiful weekend, and in Philly it was rainy weekdays. I think many more Philly fans traveled down here than vice versa. So it isn't close yet...but winning consistently can cure all ails.
Will we ever see Nationals Park at 83% capacity like Citizens Bank? Will Philadelphia see a return to 1990's misfortunes and a concomitant drop in attendance again? Will the Nationals find their most recent fortunes to be the springboard to years of success and winning?
If showing up is half the battle, the future looks bright for Nats fans...
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And use the comments to let these fans know what you thought about their piece.
In The Defense Of Nationals Fandom: Part II
DC Sports Nexus ----
Each Thursday We Let A Nats Fan Sound Off, Because Quite Frankly, The Fans Know More Than We Do
This Week's Entry Is a 3-Parter Written By A Huge Nats Fan From Twitter: @TClippardsSpecs
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“There Are 3 Types Of Lies. Lies. Damn Lies. And Statistics”
-Mark Twain
So are Philly fans really "lifers" as many of them claim to be? Does the fan-base as a whole stick with the team through thick & thin? Are the fans that much better than Nats fans in times of trouble?
To determine this, let's have data show us the way:
For the Nats, I took their attendance and win-loss record from their entire history (2005-2011). For the Phils, I took the same stats from their recent losing seasons (1996-2000, 2002). That gives us 7 years of Nats data and 6 years of Phils data to compare. The Nats avg 70 wins per season during their years, and the Phils avg 72 wins. All data from Baseball Reference.
Click The Image To Enlarge & Follow Along With
During the years in question there are some stark similarities...Let's break it down visually:
You can see in the chart how each combination of stadiums has outperformed the Phillies during these down years.
The highest capacity ever at the Vet was during the World Series trip in 1993 when it was a whopping 61% filled. The Nats at RFK filled the stadium just as well (percentage-wise) as the Phils best year.
Quantifying the Un-Quantifiable:
There is one variable of attendance that I really can't quantify with any veracity; the amount of fans in the stadium that aren't fans of the home team. Proximity of a good team to a bad team during a series is a big factor. While this doesn't skew the numbers too much, it should be noted.
There has been a lot of hubbub the last couple of years over Philadelphia fans 'taking over' Nationals Park – a.k.a 'Citizens Bank South' – it's obvious that the composition of the crowd at each of these home games is not 100% Nationals.
Philadelphia has had their own park infestation in the years we are looking at, in the form of New York Mets fans who made the Vet their home away from home -- 'Shea Stadium South', if you will.
So what does this mean going forward for the Nats? We look at the future in Part III
=========================================================================
If you are interested in writing a fan-post of your own, email editor@DCSportsNexus.com
And use the comments to let these fans know what you thought about their piece.
In The Defense Of Nationals Fandom: Part I
DC Sports Nexus ----
Each Thursday We Let A Nats Fan Sound Off, Because Quite Frankly, The Fans Know More Than We Do
This Week's Entry Is a 3-Parter Written By A Huge Nats Fan From Twitter: @TClippardsSpecs
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Part I: Bad Fans
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“In God we trust; all others must bring data.”
-W. Edwards Deming
"Bad fans". That may be the answer you get when you ask fans of other Major League baseball teams to describe the Washington Nationals fan-base. And no fans beat this dead horse more than the humble and demure residents of that quaint village about 150 miles north of our nation's capital; Philadelphia.
As the weather begins to get warmer, the season begins to heat up as well, and the notion that the Nats' fans are subpar intensifies. Images like the following are being passed throughout Twitter along with the message that the Nationals' fans are terrible supporters of the team.
Keep in mind this photo was taken at a game with a 1:05 start time, just moments
after a brief rain delay, but hey, let's not have facts get in the way of a good story...
What Philadelphia fans give as the evidence damning Nats fans as "bad", is attendance. "No one shows up to your games" - We have daily sellout crowds"
While there is some merit to this notion (DC has the 4th lowest attendance in the NL this season), this is not necessarily the factor of the city it is taking place in. All teams throughout their existences, have encountered this problem, even Philadelphia.
Why such poor attendance? Because everyone loves a winner...and if there's been anything lacking in the Nationals short history, it is wins (Avg 70 wins from 2005-2011). The Phillies on the other hand have not only won a lot of games (Avg 92 wins from 2005-2011), but they have taken home a World Series title.
Phightin fans, and Philly sports writers claim that Washington isn't a good baseball town based on these attendance figures and images of empty seats...but should that be their only evidence?
Phillies fans may remember (or choose to ignore) the mid to late 1990's – it wasn't pretty, and neither was Veterans Stadium. Kevin Sefcik and Wayne Gomes playing with Terry Francona at the helm aren't the first memories that come to mind when you think of the Philadelphia Phillies. The team's recent success has pushed these memories far out of our mind's reach.
So do Philly fans have a leg to stand on? We look at the stats in Part II
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If you are interested in writing a fan-post of your own, email editor@DCSportsNexus.com
And use the comments to let these fans know what you thought about their piece.
If you are interested in writing a fan-post of your own, email editor@DCSportsNexus.com
And use the comments to let these fans know what you thought about their piece.
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