Home run to right

MiLB.com had their latest edition of Factor Fiction up a while ago.

It goes like this:

Fact or Fiction: Asheville's McCormick Field is such a cozy ballpark that stats compiled there should be thrown out the window.

Here is the windup:

The story goes that a young first baseman back in 1975 played in Asheville. A natural right-handed hitter, he took one look at the extremely short right-field fence at McCormick and learned how to switch-hit. His name? Hall of Famer Eddie Murray, who is second all-time in home runs by a switch-hitter.

Just how cozy are the confines in Asheville? Take a look at the dimensions:

• Left field: 326 feet
  
• Left-center: 370 feet
  
• Center field: 373 feet
  
• Right-center: 320 feet
  
• Right field: 297 feet

It's easy to see why Murray wanted to take some hacks from the left side of the plate, right? Just how have the friendly confines affected hitting there? It's time to unveil our ballpark factors.

Here's the pitch:

The averages tell you that, yes, this is a very, very good place to hit. And it's important to focus on something like a three-year average because there are many variables that can affect the numbers from year-to-year. The dip in production from 2005 to 2006 is fairly obvious. Much of that can be attributed to a huge new scoreboard that was added in 2006. It's about 40 feet high and anything hit off it is in play. That's why the home run factor dropped from 210 to 119, but the doubles increased from 121 to 132.

But what happened this past season, when everything went back up close to 2005 levels? One thing that makes Minor League park factors so hard to gauge is how frequently the personnel changes. Looking at the 2007 Asheville Tourists, of the top five hitters in OPS, for instance, four are right-handed hitters and the other is a switch-hitter. Righties are not going to take advantage of the short porch in right nearly as much, but they can use the fact that left field isn't exactly a launch to their benefit.

Living up to the numbers put up in Asheville can often be a daunting task. Just ask Joe Koshansky. Back in 2005, the lefty-hitting first baseman batted .291 with 36 homers, 103 RBIs, 31 doubles and a .603 slugging percentage in 120 games in Asheville. His home-road splits that year just added to the argument that he was a product of his environment. The former sixth-round draft pick hit .355 with 25 homers and 68 RBIs at McCormick Field. In other South Atlantic League locations, he managed just a .227 average, 11 homers and 35 RBIs in three fewer at-bats. People wanted to see him do it again at higher levels before they were believers.

Koshansky, of course, obliged, hitting 31 homers at Double-A in 2006 and 21 more at Triple-A this past season to give him a .525 career SLG. But there have been other left-handed hitters who haven't been able to live up to the Asheville-produced hype.

There's lot more to the story, but in the end is it Fact or Fiction?

Fact. Asheville's McCormick Field is such a cozy ballpark that stats compiled there should be thrown out the window -- more or less, anyway. Maybe the numbers shouldn't be thrown out the window -- there's more than a fair share of hitter-friendly ballparks around the Minors, but it's clear that, especially when compared to the other parks in its league, McCormick Field is pretty extreme.