Citizens Park, Homer Heaven - Fact or Fiction?

Since its official opening on April 3, 2004, Citizens Bank Park has been considered a hitter's park, particularly friendly to the long ball. In that first year, 228 home runs were hit in the stadium, the most in the NL. After the 2005 season, the fences in left and left center were moved back 5 ft. But the Bank continues to be among the leaders in homers allowed.

There have been numerous analyses, some claiming to be very sophisticated, of major league parks and their hitter-friendliness. But in fact it would require a battery of Pentagon super computers to factor in all the variables - number of at-bats, temperature and wind, sinker ballers vs. rising fastballers, day games vs night games, quality of hitting, quality of pitching, and on and on. Here are a few unsophisticated observations and we'll concentrate on the National League since the DH muddies the water in the AL:

Last year, 189 HR were hit at the Bank, 3rd in the NL, and 109 of those were by Phillies. But bleacherreport.com points out the Phils hit 105 HR on the road, implying (and only that) that the home field did not provide a particular advantage. Among the team's prime power hitters, only Chase Utley seemed to benefit significantly at home - 20 of his 33 HR were at home, and that seems about right.

Turning this around, the top three starting pitchers - Hamels, Myers, and Moyer - gave up about the same number of homers at home and on the road. Hamels and Myers, in particular, are home run prone, so this is noteworthy.

So after five years, it would seem reasonable to conclude that the Phillies' home field is receptive to the home run, but not dramatically so. Aside from special cases like the wind in Chicago and San Francisco, or the altitude of Colorado, if there is a common denominator to indicate a park's susceptibility to the long ball, it's a simplistic one - dimensions. Most home runs are hit between the lines and power alleys. In parks where that zone is in the 330-370 ft range - Philly, New York (where Shea Stadium is on the verge of being replaced), Florida, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, etc. - there tend to be more long balls than in those where the alleys approach 390 ft like Atlanta, St. Louis and San Diego. So ballparks are fine but I'll take good hitting and pitching every time.