A new feature at MiLB.com

Fact or Fiction sounds suspiciously like a segment of the old Kiana's Flex Appeal show on ESPN2, but MiLB.com has gone and borrowed it for a new series.

Today's inaugural post is breaking down the best and worst ballparks for hitters in the minors.

Breaking down some ballpark figures

Here's how it works. Each part in the series will begin with a simple query about ballparks around the Minors and how they play for hitters. Using information from the past three seasons, Factor Fiction will delve deeply into the world of ballpark factors. Where are the best places to hit among full-season stadiums? Which parks are friendlier to pitchers? Why? This is the place to check it out.

We'll look at home-road splits and other indices to determine trends across the board, focusing on the 10 full-season leagues. For this first go-round, we'll take a look at the best and worst single seasons at Minor League parks from 2005-07 with the following question:

Fact or fiction? Lancaster's Clear Channel Stadium has been the best place to hit in recent years.

The table they have says yes.

Well, it is when looking at OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) at each ballpark each year. Looking at the top 10 seasons overall from 2005-07, Lancaster has three of the top four:

Team Lancaster High Desert Lancaster Lancaster Albuquerque Las Vegas Asheville High Desert Arkansas Colorado Springs	Stadium Clear Channel Stadium Mavericks Stadium Clear Channel Stadium Clear Channel Stadium Isotopes Park Cashman Field McCormick Field Mavericks Stadium Ray Winder Field Security Service Field	Year 2007 2005 2005 2006 2007 2005 2005 2007 2006 2005	OPS .929 .913 .906 .903 .897 .892 .883 .882 .876 .874

The table they have also looks much nicer. A caution for those inclined to be SABRists.

Now before all the statheads out there go nuts and exclaim that this is no way to determine which park is the best for hitters, relax. We're not trying to invent some new philosophy or break new ground here. Simply, we want to look at the numbers already out there and try to make some sense of them. And while a lot more number-crunching could be done to reach a final conclusion, there's little doubt that Lancaster is really cozy.

I won't copy the bottom 10 table here, but there are two Midwest League Stadiums on that list.

Community Field in Burlington is tied for second with a .631 OPS
CO Brown Stadium, the old home of the several teams in Battle Creek Michigan is ninth at .648

Using their criteria, MiLB discovered that the worst place in minor league baseball is Roger Dean Stadium in the Florida State League. And there are more games played there than any other.

Roger Dean Stadium is really locked into that top (or is it bottom) spot when you consider that .625 OPS comes courtesy of two teams, the Jupiter Hammerheads and Palm Beach Cardinals. There were 160 games played there during the 2006 season. With .668 and .669 OPS seasons the other two years, it's pretty apparent Roger Dean is not a fun place to hit.

Interesting stuff. It would be even better if there was a nod to Kiana over there, but I doubt if that will be happening anytime soon.