DiMaggio hit three inside the park home runs (IPHR) in his career: 1936 in St. Louis, 1938 at Yankee Stadium, 1939 in Philadelphia.
Let's look at other right hand Yankee batters and try to determine how their home run hitting was impacted by playing their home games in the original Yankee Stadium from 1923 through 1973.
This query contains data on the 37 seasons in which right hand Yankee batters, including DiMaggio, hit at least 18 home runs 1923 through 1973. My breakdown of the significant home run seasons by Yankees other than DiMaggio are in this file, in tab "Yank righty HR 1923-1973". I omitted Johnny Lindell's 18 homers in 1944 because it was borderline in a war year. I included Tony Lazzeri's 14 homers in 1937 because it is during DiMaggio's biggest home run season and Lazzeri was second on the 1937 Yanks in homers by a righty.
The top three led AL:
DiMaggio 46 1937
DiMaggio 39 1948
Bob Meusel 33 1925
DiMaggio has 8 of the top 10 seasons. The top 9 are at least 30 and DiMaggio is 10th with 29.
The other top seasons:
Joe Gordon 30 1940
Joe Gordon 28 1939
Bill Skowron 28 1961
Elston Howard 28 1963
Also from DiMaggio's era 1936-1951:
Joe Gordon 25 1938
Joe Gordon 24 1941
Joe Gordon 18 1942
Johnny Lindell 18 1944
Not long before DiMaggio:
Bob Meusel 24 1921
Bob Meusel 33 1925
Tony Lazzeri 18 1926
Tony Lazzeri 18 1927
Tony Lazzeri 18 1929
Tony Lazzeri 18 1933
Not long after DiMaggio:
Hank Bauer 20 1955
Bill Skowron 23 1956
Hank Bauer 26 1956
Bill Skowron 26 1960
DiMaggio in 1937 took 4.4 more at bats (AB) to homer at home than on the road. AB/HR:
home: 16.1
road: 11.67
The other 25 righty Yankee seasons examined took 5.86 more at bats (AB) to homer at home than on the road. AB/HR:
home: 27.2
road: 21.4
DiMaggio for his career took 6.45 more at bats (AB) to homer at home than on the road. AB/HR:
home: 22.7
road: 16.2
DiMaggio took 0.59 more at bats (AB) to homer at home than on the road than other 8 righty Yankee batters in the 25 seasons examined. However:
At Yankee Stadium:
HR AB AB/HR
other Yank righties 231 6,293 27.24
DiMaggio 148 3,360 22.70
Dif -4.54
That's s good sample size, 87% more AB, for the 25 non-DiMaggio Yankee righty batter seasons examined. Joe D. required 4.54 fewer AB to homer at the original Yankee Stadium than the other Yank righties who needed 20% more AB to homer there.
For righty Yankee batters other than DiMaggio 1923-1973, two had better AB/HR at home for the seasons examined: Bob Meusel (3.7) and Hank Bauer (2.7), two seasons each. Here are the others by their AB advantage on the road:
Elston Howard 14 in 4 seasons
Bill Skowron12.2 in 4 seasons
Thurmon Munson 11.95 in 1 season
Clete Boyer 11 in 2 seasons
Joe Gordon 3.18 in 5 seasons
Tony Lazzeri 2.43 in 5 seasons
The breakdown by seasons home/road: 11/14.
Biggest home advantage: In 1921 Bob Meusel hit 24 home runs for the entire season and took 11 fewer AB to homer at home than on the road. AB/HR:
home: 20.3
road: 31.3
Biggest road advantage: In 1962 Elston Howard hit 21 home runs for the entire season and took 57 fewer AB to homer on the road than at home. AB/HR:
home: 72.67
road: 15.33
Best home rate: Joe Gordon in his 1938 rookie season hit 13 homers in 199 AB: 15.3. Next best: Meusel 1925 (led AL with 33 homers) 19.13, Bauer 1956 19.21, Gordon 1940 19.87.
Worst home rate: Elston Howard in 1962 hit 3 homers in 218 AB: 72.67. In 1961 Howard's rate was 21.1 and in 1963, his MVP season, 22.7. Next worst: Lazzeri 1933 40.47.
Best road rate: Bill Skowron 1956 14, Skowron 1961 14.19, Howard 1963 14.44, Howard 1962 15.33.
Worst road rate: Lazzeri 1927 43.43, Lazzeri 1937 38.33, Lazzeri 1926 33.66, Lazzeri 1933 29, Boyer 1962 27.17.
Most homers at home: Meusel 16 in 1925, Gordon 15 in 1940, Meusel 14 in 1921, Bauer 14 in 1956, Gordon 13 in 1938.
Fewest homers at home: Howard 3 in 1962, Howard 5 in 1959, Lazzeri 5 in 1929, Skowron 6 in 1956, Boyer 6 in 1962.
Most homers on road: Skowron 21 in 1961, Howard 18 in 1962, Howard 18 in 1963, Meusel 17 in 1925, Gordon 17 in 1939, Skowron 17 in 1956.
Fewest homers on road: Lazzeri 6 in 1937 (only 14 for season), Lazzeri 7 in 1927, Lazzeri 9 in 1926, Bauer 9 in 1955.
No comments:
Post a Comment