How helpful is home field advantage in baseball?
posted by u/GoodNinja18 · 2026-10-21 14:51 UTC
In the NBA, getting home field advantage is one of the best perks of being a #1 seed. That's why some teams that don't load manage would try to clinch it for the whole playoffs.
What about in the MLB? How helpful is home field advantage? I mean you get to play at a park where you know the outfield fences better than your opponent.
## Top comments
1. u/AutoModerator · 2026-10-21 14:51 UTC
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2. u/LiftEatGrappleShoot · 2026-10-21 15:01 UTC
Astros fan here. Not at all important, apparently.
3. u/TakeTheThirdStep · 2026-10-21 15:06 UTC
Nationals fan here. I concur.
4. u/LiftEatGrappleShoot · 2026-10-21 15:09 UTC
The WS we had with y'all was so frustrating for home fans. Nobody wanted to win at home. Ha
5. u/nogood-usernamesleft · 2026-10-21 15:18 UTC
Sox fan here, sorry not sorry
6. u/Substantial_Alarm586 · 2026-10-21 15:06 UTC
Fellow Astros fan here. Sometimes it's actually a negative.
7. u/stiffjalopy · 2026-10-21 15:15 UTC
As a Mariners fan, I concur.
8. u/SadPark390 · 2026-10-21 17:18 UTC
While it didn’t help this year, the Astros notoriously cheated at their home field en route to acquiring and maintaining some metal. The fact that they continued their scheme is proof the players believed it was an advantage
9. u/LiftEatGrappleShoot · 2026-10-21 17:23 UTC
Ok, dork.
10. u/SadPark390 · 2026-10-21 17:29 UTC
It’s alright. Your favorite team won by cheating. You didn’t cheat. But they did.
11. u/BBallPaulFan · 2026-10-21 14:54 UTC
It matters but baseball is an inherently more random sport than basketball so any single factor like that isn't going to stand out the same way.
12. u/Earth_2_Me · 2026-10-21 15:23 UTC
I feel like home field advantage is bigger in baseball than any other sport, mostly because there are no standard dimensions for outfield fences. The home team outfielders know that space better, home team hitters and fielders might have a better idea of what is leaving the park / what could be caught. In other sports (football, basketball, hockey) all the measurements are exactly the same throughout the entire playing field.
Plus, the home team gets the last out.
13. u/speed3_freak · 2026-10-21 16:07 UTC
I’d say football because crowd noise affects communication of the offense.
14. u/dgmilo8085 · 2026-10-21 22:12 UTC
Home cooking and your own bed are the real perks of home-field advantage, not necessarily dimensions. But it's the slimmest in baseball due to the extensive travel of the season.
15. u/wadamday · 2026-10-21 17:12 UTC
https://community.jmp.com/t5/JMPer-Cable-Blog/Is-there-a-home-game-advantage-in-professional-sports/ba-p/641566?hl=en-US#:~:text=Looking%20at%20the%20different%20leagues%20over%20the,significant%20outside%20of%20the%20MLB%20and%20NHL.
Believe it or not, MLB is actually the lowest of the 4 major sports in the US based on league wide differences in W-L for home teams.
16. u/SadPark390 · 2026-10-21 17:22 UTC
Yea bro is straight up wrong. While there is an advantage to playing defense, ol boy suggested defenders knowing what ball can be caught is a terrible example. There is absolutely an advantage to a veteran Red Sox player knowing how to play a ball off the monster, but there may be 5 balls hit off that wall per game and if a rookie messes one up he’s going to be shagging fly balls off that wall for an hour before the next game.
17. u/Earth_2_Me · 2026-10-21 17:38 UTC
I mean, it is correct that there is no standard distance for a homerun in Major League baseball, is it not? Outfields are different sizes and shapes, aren't they? And isn't baseball the only sport where the dimensions of the field can be different between stadiums?
I certainly might be wrong, "ol boy" never claimed to be an expert. I am simply thinking about the question and applying what I know. I remember adjusting the position of outfielders in high school / college based on the size of the outfield (obviously, not exactly like the pros, but the same idea).
The article that wadamday linked is really interesting!
18. u/SadPark390 · 2026-10-21 19:43 UTC
If a ball gets hit the outfielders are going to move after it whether they believe it will be a homerun or not. So knowing the dimensions of your home stadium means absolutely nothing in relation to how an outfielder plays a fly ball.
19. u/sexinsuburbia · 2026-10-21 19:29 UTC
In hockey, home team puts their lines out after visitors. Huge advantage, more than baseball. If the away team puts out 4th line grinders, home team can put out their top scoring line. One line mismatch is the difference between winning and losing a game.
20. u/SadPark390 · 2026-10-21 17:20 UTC
Confidently incorrect.