Bad Road Teams

[Raji]

Maybe it’s the different hotdogs?

For some reason the Milwaukee Brewers are a different team on the road than they are at Miller Park. The National League Central leaders have the majors’ top home record (36-17) but are an unimpressive 21-32 outside Wisconsin. While not the only team that stinks on the road (see below), Milwaukee's recent numbers do raise eyebrows.

The club has lost 11 of its last 14 away contests including six of eight on its recent road swing.

“I don’t have an answer for it,” Brewers manager Ned Yost told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “I don’t know what to say to you. When you figure it out, please let me know. And write it down so I can’t forget it.”

Here’s something Yost can write down: Over the last two seasons the Brewers have played with a .383 winning percentage on the road compared to .580 in their friendly confines.

“I don’t know what it is,” outfielder Bill Hall said Sunday. “The feeling is the same. We come to the ballpark on the road feeling we’re going to win a game. Obviously, it hasn’t worked out that way.

“Hopefully, we can turn it around. We need to forget about it and go play. It’s the topic every road trip, it seems like, so it’s kind of hard to forget.”

Milwaukee’s bats have been mighty no matter the ballpark but the team’s pitching has wavered. The team ERA is almost a full run higher away from home.

There’s no need to pick on the Brewers in particular. Most teams play better at home but there are some losing trends worth noting. Here’s a brief rundown of a few other teams that lose value as visitors.

Texas Rangers

This club benefits greatly from playing in a hitter's park. The Rangers can win games by out-smashing opponents at the Ballpark in Arlington, something they can’t always do in pitcher-friendly venues.

The struggling Rangers have actually earned backers a profit at home, earning $375 for the $100-a-game bettor. But as visitors they've saddled the same backers with a $653 loss.

Slugging out wins will be more difficult to do now that switch-hitting first baseman Mark Teixeira has been shipped to the Atlanta Braves.

Houston Astros

Texas must be a nice place to host a ball game. The other squad from Lone Star State also struggles to bring its best effort when on the road. The Astros are a healthy 28-25 at home but drop to 18-34 as visitors.

The attendance at Minute Maid Park is up from last year even though Houston’s been a large disappointment so far this year.

Seattle Mariners

The Mariners are a good-hitting team, but outside of Richie Sexson and Adrian Beltre, there isn’t a lot of pop in the batting order. Playing in the spacious dimensions in Safeco Field allows the Mariners to even the playing level, in terms of power, with their opponents. Going on the road seems to expose this weakness.

Seattle – baseball’s top money team – is 12th in the same category on the road. Mariners' $100-a-game backers have earned $1,408 from home games, but only a $224 profit when Seattle is away from the Northwest


Raji