[BirdWatcher]

Something I realize that I haven't talked about at all during this fairly extensive reporting about the WPK is ballpark factors.
When I first set up the league and started preparing for the inaugural draft I of course took a look at the Denver ballpark (Brewers Field) to get some idea of what I should target in the draft. And I realized pretty early that the park was going to favor lefthanded batters and that I should therefore particularly target them and also try to get some good lefty pitchers to somewhat counteract the opposition's advantage in this area.

But what I didn't do, and I feel silly about this, is ever look around the league and compare our park to the others- get a sense of the league context and environment. And so I missed some things that might not have greatly changed the way I put together the team but that do have some effect on how I see the performance of the team and individual members of the team. (As well as players and teams around the MGL.)
(For now this is just about the MGL, as there is no inter-league play and so the Brewers will only ever face an SJL team in the World Series.)

Now that I have taken a deeper look around the league, I find that Brewers Field is the best park in the MGL for homerun hitters. Which explains, somewhat, why our pitching staff is by far the most generous in giving up HR's (even with a mix of subpar but also very good movement ratings). On the other hand, it makes our lack of HR hitting even more pronounced. In particular, it makes me wonder what is going on with Antonio Puente and his low HR totals for the past 2 seasons. Puente has a high HR power rating (8 out of 10) and early in his career was generally good for at least about 30 HR's a season. Puente is also a lefthanded hitter. And while Brewers Field is the most favorable park in the league for HR hitting (1.114), it is particularly so for lefthanded batters(1.140.) (The park is second in HR favorable factor for RHB (1.100), behind only Los Angeles Grounds (1.155).) In addition, Brewers Field, while suppressing batting average for righthanded batters (8th in MGL, .970), is generally favorable for lefthanded hitters in that area as well (1.020, 4th in MGL). With Puente's batting averages also trending in the wrong direction, it somewhat calls into question his overall skills. He remains a plus defender and is very good at drawing walks and therefore has a high OBP, but he also strikes out a lot and although he has good speed he has been caught stealing more times this year then he has been successful in stealing bases.
On the other hand, this might somewhat explain the very talented Ryan Rodgers' lower batting averages since joining the Brewers, though it doesn't fully explain his historically anemic average this season. Also, these ballpark factors make Ruben Souffront look even more valuable and talented a hitter. And in fact, (screenshots later when I'm in front of game), looking at this season it is clear that Ruben just rakes on the road while his batting average is far less impressive at home. (Rodgers and Souffront are, of course, both righthanded batters.)

A few notes:
The Baltimore Lords, known for their great pitching, are aided in that regard by playing in by far the best pitching park. (AVG OVR: .945, Doubles: .902, Triples: .890, HR: .954.)
If you are a hitter who wants to play in a park that inflates both your batting average and your HR numbers, Detroit's Falcons Park is the place for you. (AVG OVR: 1.074, best in MGL, HR: 1.050, 3rd best.)
Oklahoma City Grounds and Los Angeles Grounds have the biggest disparities for hitters based upon handedness. If you are lefthanded hitter Oklahoma City is a paradise (1.110, best in MGL) while a righthander will suffer (.945, worst in MGL). The splits are almost as dramatic for HR hitting- LHB 1.090, 2nd best MGL, after Denver, RHB: .945, 8th in MGL.
Los Angeles is the opposite. Righthanded batters get a nice BA boost (1.155, best in MGL), while lefthander's struggle (.905, worst in MGL.) Same with HR's- RHB: 1.155, best in MGL, LHB: .935, 9th best in MGL.
This last bit especially makes former Brewer Mark Compton's career look more impressive. Compton is the current leader in career HR's in the WPK (not just the MGL). Now, granted he played his first year and a half at Brewers Field, which favors lefthanded power hitters (of which Compton is one), but since then he has played his home games at a park which pretty substantially negatively affects his HR hitting ability. I can only imagine what his HR totals might be if he had played the whole time in a home park that was more favorable to him.

Another fascinating thing I hadn't fully realized until I took a closer look at all of the parks around the league is an area where my team has a huge advantage. (And I didn't manipulate this in any way- this was just how the league was set up.) Brewers Field has a maximum seating capacity of 42,200. Decent, but not huge by modern standards. But here's the thing: the league average is 24,600. And if you removed our park from the mix, it would be much less. The second highest max capacity in the league is Detroit's Falcons Ballpark, which seats 25,500. Los Angeles, one of the largest metro areas represented in the WPK, has a tiny park that only seats 17,700 fans. This gives the Brewers, in spite of having a stingy owner, a huge potential economic advantage over the rest of the league. But, hey, I'll take it.
A few other quick notes about Brewers Field:
It plays neutral for doubles (1.000), though by MGL standards (.9942 average) it is still a bit generous.
When it comes to triples (which the Brewers are very good at) the park is fairly favorable (1.020) but by the standards of the MGL (1.006) only a little better than average and ranked 6th in the league. (Baltimore and L.A. throw off the average a bit here as they are very triples suppressant- both are .890.)

As I said above, I'll share a bit more about this later and include screenshots. As much as I get immersed in this baseball universe (and OOTP), I'm continually finding areas to explore more that further enrich the experience. It's a gift that just keeps giving!