Baseball Musings: Head Away from the Rockies

June 14, 2005

Head Away from the Rockies

There's a good article in the New York Times on trying to build a team in Coors Field. What the article makes clear is that no one has a clue how to do it. Dan O'Dowd states the big problem:

O'Dowd added that the altitude wore down players physically so that they must be rested more, but that the fatigue on starting pitchers forced relievers to work more.

Maybe in Denver you should be allowed to carry a 30-man roster. Leo Mazzone talks about what happens to pitchers:

Leo Mazzone, the Braves' pitching coach, said Hampton was in a state similar to shell shock when he left Colorado after two seasons and joined the Braves.
"He was trying to make the ball do way more than what it could do," Mazzone said. "That's what happens when you go to that place, and it's the reason why a lot of guys struggle. They overexaggerate everything to try to make it work. I don't really think it ever will."

The more I think about the Coors problem, the more I believe the Rockies can only win by being a super offensive team. They can't be content with hitters who look great at home but stink on the road. They need to find four of five superstars who will just pound the ball and push the team toward 8 runs a game at home. Then just hope the pitching can hang on. They need an infield of A-Rod, Tejada, Kent and Helton.

Posted by David Pinto at 05:36 PM | Stadiums | TrackBack (0)

Comments

They need to move.

Posted by: sabernar at June 14, 2005 07:31 PM

Why can't they put a dome on the stadium and try to regulate air pressure? Is it that cost-prohibitive?

Posted by: jc at June 14, 2005 07:33 PM

I've thought about the dome idea, but you don't want paying customers getting the bends leaving the stadium.

Posted by: Crank at June 14, 2005 08:22 PM

Well, in all serious, that wouldn't be a problem. Water is far heavier than air which is why there's the risk of decompression sickness when you come up from a dive (planes are pressurized and no one gets the bends from flying commercial airlines).

A dome would allow a slight change in air pressure (it wouldn't take much) and maybe some increased humidity to factor-out the altitude. The question remains - what type of cost would be associated with this, especially considering the stadium can't be made air-tight.

Posted by: jc at June 14, 2005 10:39 PM

Might want to take Helton out of that lineup...

Posted by: Masked at June 15, 2005 01:18 AM

hey that was MY idea about the pressurized dome!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: lisa gray at June 15, 2005 02:26 PM

The problem facing pitchers in Denver seems to be twofold, but both are related to low-viscosity air, and the same corrective addresses both.

1) The ball loses less velocity as it travels, and thus carries farther and faster. Any bat contact is more likely to be a homerun, more likely to speed past the infield, and more likely to reach the more open space in the deep outfield. Any non-strikeout at-bat is likelier to be a hit.

2) The magnus force, responsible for the evasive behaviour of curves and sliders, has less strength, and those pitches break less well. It is more difficult to avoid bat contact.

The Rockies' response to both should be to load up the pitching staff with fastball pitchers. MacDougle would be great there. A fastball pitcher is actually better off in Denver, because the pitch retains more velocity at the plate. Change-ups could work well also, since they don't rely on the Magnus force. But the Rockies should stay away from recruiting pitchers who rely on curves and sliders.
That fastball pitchers tend to be high-strikeout pitchers only helps the Rockies. No contact implies no hits. High strikeout pitchers tend to have high walk counts, too, but walks are more tolerable than hits.

For the other positions, they should recruit on offensive ability across the board, and accept mediocre fielding ability as a tradeoff.

David Pinto: has your trackback feature been disabled? I don't see any trackbacks listed, and the one I attempted did not register.

Posted by: David Keeney at June 20, 2005 10:45 AM