Good Question: Is There A Home-Field Advantage?
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- It sounds like a no-brainer, every team wants to have the home-field advantage. But when it comes to major league baseball statistics, how big of an advantage is home field?
Even the Minnesota Twins players say they're excited about playing at home.
"We get to open up here instead of New York," said Michael Cuddyer.
"It's gonna be an unbelievable atmosphere," chimed in Joe Mauer.
During the regular season, the home field was an incredible advantage for the Minnesota Twins. The team won 53 and lost just 28 at Target Field, winning 65 percent of their games at home.
Compare that to all of Major League Baseball, where the home team won 56 percent of their games, going 728-571 at home.
How about playoffs? According to Sports Illustrated, since 1988, the team with home-field advantage has won 45 series and lost 39. That works out to 54 percent, a slight advantage, but consider the team with the home-field advantage is also statistically the team with the superior record.
If the teams had even records, it's certainly conceivable that the playing field location wouldn't factor in at all.
What about the best part about having the home field advantage, having the potential game five or game seven in your park. That's happened 19 times since 1998, and the home team won nine of those games. The home team lost the other 10.
"That's actually a surprising statistic," said Drew Levin, a self-described hard core Twins fan.
The Twins have had a very difficult time playing at home during the last six playoff series (in five years). The Twins' home record is two wins, nine losses.
Of course, every time the Twins won a world series, they won every home game, going 4-0 in 1987 and 1991.
Researchers have found the biggest home-field advantage in the NBA, with an average home winning percentage of 58 percent. The NFL is close behind with 56 percent. Baseball has the least advantage, typically around 54 percent.
"When Liriano hits the mound tomorrow night, and 40,000 plus people are on their feet, screaming, cheering going absolutely nuts," said Levin. "When he puts the arm back, his mid-90s fastball could be in the upper 90s with all that energy."
Researchers with the Society for American Baseball Research found the home-field advantage is mainly about familiarity with the ballpark. That shows up with extra-base hits. Home teams know when to stretch that hit into the outfield into a double, triple or inside-the-park home run.
Researchers have found that home basketball crowds can impact the officiating of a game, because of their proximity to the court and volume. In football, crowds can throw off the rhythm of the offense.
