December pickups

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by Beatles Guy

Chuck Klein's 1930 season has to rank up there as one of the best of all time. Just dominant.

Klein's dominance was a result of playing his home games at the Baker Bowl. Klein was a left handed pull hitter, and the Baker Bowl had dimensions that are dwarfed by high school parks now. The right field wall was 280 feet, and right center field was only 300 feet.


The Baker Bowl, Philadelphia. A left handed hitter's paradise.

In 1930, his home and away splits are probably the least severe of all his "great" seasons. He saw a drop in 1931, but in 1932, his numbers jumped back up. And the difference between his home and away performance is like night and day.

1930 splits


1932 splits


In 1930, he hit 26 of his 40 home runs at home. His home OPS was 1.278. Away from the Baker Bowl, it was .969. His season would have still been great if you eliminate the Baker Bowl games, and average all the away games over the course of the season-He'd have hit .332 with 54 doubles, 28 home runs and 122 RBI, or slightly better, because at any other home stadium, he;d have recognized some sort of boost. Still an exceptional season.

But look at 1932. After a great 1930 season, his "great" 1932 season is completely the result of his home stadium. At home, he hit .423 with 29 home runs and 97 RBI in 77 games. A .464 OBP, .799 SLG and a 1.263 OPS is mind blowing.

But he's not even an all star away from home. Away from the Baker Bowl, he hit .266 with 9 home runs and 40 RBI. His OBP away from home is 124 points lower. His SLG is 318 points lower. And his OPS drops from a 1.263 to an .821. I don't know of anybody, even playing at Coors Field, who has a 442 point discrepancy between home and road OPS metrics.

He was a .395 hitter career at the Baker Bowl (931 for 2354). Everywhere else, he was a .277 career hitter (1,145 for 4,132). He hit 164 home runs there in 2,354 at bats. He hit 136 in 4,132 at bats everywhere else. His home home run rate was 14.35. One home run every 14.35 at bats. Away from home, his home run rate was 30.4. He hit a home run every 30.4 at bats. He hit home runs in a stadium measuring 300 feet at right center field more than twice as often. Shocking, I know.

In 1934, at age 29, still in his early prime, his numbers plummeted when he went to the Cubs. In 1933, he hit .368 playing for Philadelphia. The next season, as a Cub, he hit .301. His OPS dropped from 1.025 to .882.

The bottom line? The Baker Bowl made Chuck Klein a Hall of Famer.