It is well known that Rangers Ballpark in Arlington is a "hitter's park." I was curious as to which Ranger hitters benefited the most from the Ballpark in 2008:
Those who benefited the most were Milton Bradley, Josh Hamilton, and Hank Blalock. What do all of these guys have in common? They are all sluggers who log most of their ABs hitting left-handed:
**Milton Bradley ripped a .358/.466/.679 line at home, but still hit a solid .290/.410/.462 on the road.
**Josh Hamilton punished visiting pitchers at a .345/.408/.611 mark, but was a much meeker .263/.331/.448 on the road.
**Hank Blalock did his best Hamilton impression of .343/.415/.610 at home, but hit an abysmal .248/.282/.438 away from the right field jet stream.
Michael Young also enjoyed a moderate advantage, but not much to brag about. In the same line of thought as above, Young is a right handed hitter who pushes the ball consistently to right field. In fact, Young put the ball into play 228 times to right field, 178 to center, and 136 to left (according to billjamesonline.com):
**Young looked like his old self at home, logging a .305/.362/.441 line; his splits away from the Ballpark are an uninspiring .264/.317/.364.
Using this trend, i.e. that left-handed power hitters on the Rangers in 2008 seem to have reaped the benefits of the Ballpark more than anyone else, I figured that Chris Davis would surely have joined in the fun. It turns out that Davis was mostly the same hitter no matter where he played: he hit .293/.333/.541 in Arlington and .275/.329/.558 elsewhere. He actually slugged more on the road . . .
There were only two (regular, or semi-regular) players who turned in notably better performances outside Arlington:
Gerald Laird turned in a .258/.322/.379 at home but improved to a more respectable .299/.337/.422 on the road.
Frank Catalanotto mustered a weak .254/.319/.365 in the Texas heat, but was a productive .295/.365/.434 in more mild climates.
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