How does wind affect baseball played at Colorado's high altitude?
We all know the physics of playing baseball at high altitude in places like Denver gets complicated and can involve an unlimited number of factors. When all is said and done, wind direction can have a huge effect.
Let us unpack a few of the other factors briefly... The air is about 20% lighter, leading to less air resistance. Thus, the ball at Coors Field travels about 5-10% further, according to University of Colorado Boulder Professor Peter Hamilton.
A study conducted by Society for American Baseball found that the average fly ball is hit 302.8 feet at the Colorado Rockies home stadium. That is roughly 18 feet longer than the NL average of 284.5 feet (excluding Coors Field). They found the average fly ball distance with an easterly wind is 290 feet, when you add a westerly component the average jumps to over 303 feet.
A lot of this can simply come down to the stadium's orientation compared to the surrounding topography. The stadium is oriented north-northeast, meaning an easterly wind direction would just slightly push against the ball. In turn, a westerly wind will help the ball travel.
For example, If the wind were to come from the northeasterly, it'd blow from center field to the batter's box, negatively impacting distance traveled for all fly balls.
Northerly and easterly winds are the most predominant during the season (April – September).
Phew, okay that was a lot to unpack. When all is said, wind direction works to minimize or maximize altitude affects. The advantage of altitude will be noticed in games with a westerly wind component, and slightly neglected with winds from the north and/or east.
