One of the big issues concerning the Colorado Rockies and Major League Baseball itself is how air pressure affects the flight of baseballs. The Rockies play in Denver, a city located a full mile above sea level. At this altitude, air pressure is considerably less than that of sea level.

Lower air pressure would mean that there are fewer air molecules in a certain volume of air. For instance, when a baseball is hit in New York, a city located at sea level, the greater number of air molecules creates more friction on the ball. This friction shortens the ball's flight. But if the same ball is hit in Denver, where there are less air molecules to create friction on the ball, a ball would travel farther.

With less friction in the air, batters at Coors Field, the home of the Rockies, have a considerable advantage over batters in places like New York. The statistics prove that this is so. In 1996, the Rockies batted .343 at home along with 149 home runs and 627 runs batted in (RBIs). On the road, however, where they play the same number of games, they batted a measly .228 with 72 home runs and 282 RBIs--the home run and RBI totals less than half what they were at Coors. The Rockies also scored 8.1 runs per game, compared to 3.7 on the road. Opponents have fared well at Coors Field, batting .304 with 122 home runs and 526 RBIs while scoring 6.9 runs per game in 1996.
 

Click here to go to the Rockies site at www.fastball.com

COORS FIELD IN DENVER

Individual performances support the air pressure theory as well. The previous best season of Andres Galarraga, the Rockies' first baseman, was in 1988 with the Montreal Expos, when he batted .302 with 29 home runs and ninety-two runs batted in. But in 1996 with Colorado, "The Big Cat" batted .304 with 47 home runs and 150 runs batted in. Larry Walker, the rightfielder for the Rockies, batted .301 with 23 home runs and ninety-three runs batted in for Montreal. This year for Colorado, Walker is batting .393 with 33 home runs and 93 RBIs; however, Walker still has 50 games left in the year.
 

Click here for the Yankees page at www.fastball.com

YANKEE STADIUM IN NEW YORK

Ellis Burks has also experienced a career turn-around with the Rockies. Unfortunately, he never played for the Expos. Nonetheless, Ellis crushed his career marks when he came to the Rockies.

Signing with a new team doesn't always guarantee instant success. Darryl Hamilton, a centerfielder who signed with the San Francisco Giants from the Texas Rangers, has experienced neither a drop-off nor an increase in his stats. Hamilton batted .293 with 6 home runs and 51 runs batted in for the Rangers in '96; he is currently batting .292 with 3 home runs and 23 RBIs. J.T. Snow batted .289 with 24 home runs and 102 runs batted in in 1995 for the then-California Angels. This year, for San Francisco (another trend starting here), Snow is batting .307 with 18 home runs and 69 RBIs--an increase in production, but not as dramatic as those who don the Rockies' uniforms.

Matt Williams, a .336 batter with 23 round trippers and 65 RBIs in 1995 with the Giants (Williams missed parts of the season due to injury), was traded to Cleveland in the offseason. This year for the Indians, Williams is batting .242 with 25 home runs and 67 runs batted in.

Using a computer simulation, we determined just how much the lack of air resistance affects the flight of a baseball. A ball hit with a vertical velocity of 100 meters per second and a horizontal velocity of 237 meters per second will travel about 396.5 feet at sea level. In Colorado, the same ball will travel 481 feet, providing that the air density is proportional on a 6:5 ratio. Size and mass are moot points when calculating the effects of air pressure against the flight of a baseball.

In conclusion, we have now determined that the flight of a baseball is greatly affected by the air pressure that it is traveling in. This, in turn, helps the Rockies--and other teams who play significantly above sea level. With less drag force produced by more friction on the ball--in addition to falling into the most popular category for new stadiums, the "hitter's" ballpark--Colorado's Coors Field is one of the most ideal places to bat. Whether this advantage is fair or not is still under debate by baseball analysts and fans everywhere, but until a decision is made against Coors, the home runs will continue to fall.