By HenryMargusityAccuWeather.com
AccuWeather.com has done extensive research into whether the weather isplaying a role in the number of home runs at the new Yankee Stadium. Weconcluded that this weekend's games with the Phillies helped determine theoutcome of this summer's home run derby at Yankee Stadium. The weather thispast weekend was warm and a bit humid, typical summer weather for New YorkCity.Our findings show that the weather conditions at Yankee Stadium have opposedthe number of home runs being hit at the stadium. Winds really have not been afactor, given that in most games, winds were not all that strong. In mostgames, winds were under 10 mph, and the direction of the wind was notconsistent with the right field home run theory.
In respect to the temperature and humidity, and the laws of baseball flight,the number of home runs should be down, assuming the use of an ideal baseball.
The laws of baseball flight say that a baseball will fly a longer distance inair that is warm and humid. Air that is warm and humid is considerably lessdense than air that is cool and dry. The resistance on a baseball is greater indense air than less-dense air. For example, a typical warm, humid New Yorkevening would generally mean a better chance for home runs than, say, the coolevenings of April.
According to AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Mike Pigott, this theory works ifyou assume an ideal, or elastic, baseball is being used. In reality, baseballstend not to be ideal, as they absorb atmospheric constituents, such as watervapor, of their surrounding environment. Humidity affects the elasticity of abaseball, making it less likely to travel as far after collision with a bat ifthe ball has been sitting in a humid environment prior to the game.
In other words, the degree to which a ball will fly off the bat andultimately how far that ball will travel is influenced by how much moisturethat ball has absorbed from its surroundings. Thus there is a great deal ofphysics behind the distance that a ball will travel in a particular environmentthat makes this determination quite complicated!However, AccuWeather.com's findings have shown that in most of the games inwhich home runs where hit, the temperatures were between 54 and 69 degrees. Thefew games where temperatures were in the 70s, the air was dry. In all games,the air overall was dense compared to the warm, humid air that is yet tocome.
UPDATE: Sunday afternoon's game featured 1 home run for the Yankees.
Temperatures were in the lower 80s. Humidity levels were moderate.
We can conclude from the weather data that the number of home runs should goup this summer. AccuWeather.com is already predicting higher-than-normalhumidity in the New York City area this summer, which means the home run derbyshould continue at Yankee Stadium.
The reason for the number of home runs at the new Yankee Stadium is stillout for debate, but one thing is sure, the weather may not be the entirefactor. Maybe it is due to the dimensions of the field, the height of thefences in the outfield, the quality of hitters, or the quality of the pitching(or lack thereof).
