Minnesota Twins Begin Target Field Era at Near Record Pace

Twins’ 14-8 start and ‘projected’ 103-59 finish are tied for second best for first seasons with a new ball park among MLB teams

Although the latest stadium buzz around the Twin Cities and the State Capitol concerns rejuvenated speculation about a new Vikings Stadium, the Minnesota Twins have ushered in the Target Field era thus far in near-historic fashion.

A Smart Politics analysis of historic Major League Baseball (MLB) statistics finds the Twins 14-8 start to be tied for the second best start among MLB teams after moving into their current stadiums.

Only the St. Louis Cardinals’ 15-7 start to the 2006 year after the opening of Busch Stadium bests the Twins’ record after 22 games.

Three other teams began the season with new stadiums at 14-8: the Boston Red Sox after moving into Fenway Park in 1912, the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1962 after moving into Dodger Stadium, and the 1992 Baltimore Orioles after moving into Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Best Start After 22 Games in New Major League Baseball Stadiums

Note: data for current MLB franchises only, playing in the first season of their current ballpark. Excludes the Florida Marlins, Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, and Tampa Bay Rays, who moved into their current stadiums as expansion teams. Also excludes the Oakland Athletics, who play in Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, which was built in 1966, but the Athletics franchise did not move to Oakland (from Kansas City) until 1968. Data compiled by Smart Politics.

New stadiums, such as the partially publicly funded Target Field, are proposed not so much to give the team an advantage per se during its 81 home games played at the stadium, but to generate more revenue that can be spent on the players and facilities, to make the team better overall (e.g. Joe Mauer’s $184 million 8-year contract extension signed in 2010).

While the season is just one-month old, the Twins’ winning percentage of .636 means they are on pace for a 103-59 record, which would be tied for the second best record during the first season MLB teams moved into their current stadiums.

Only the 1912 Boston Red Sox’s .691 winning percentage (105-47) would exceed the Twins’ projected pace. The 2009 New York Yankees also ended up with a .636 winning percentage in the inaugural season of the new Yankee Stadium.

The worst record in a new stadium among the league’s current teams is the Washington National’s 2008 campaign, during which they notched a .366 winning percentage (59-102).

Minnesota is currently 6-3 at home and 8-5 on the road.

Of course, the Twins’ 2010 team has the advantage of coming off an AL-Central winning season in 2009, in which they won 87 games, losing 76 (.534).

Even still, if the Twins’ winning percentage should play out at .636 this year, their +.102 change in winning percentage from 2009 to 2010, would be the fifth best turnaround among MLB teams for the first year in their current stadiums.

The Twins trail only the 1912 Boston Red Sox (+.181), the 2004 San Diego Padres (+.142), the 1992 Baltimore Orioles (+.135), and the 1994 Cleveland Indians (+.115).

Eleven teams have fared poorer in the first season of their new stadium compared to the previous year, with the 2000 Houston Astros (-.155) and the 2009 New York Mets (-.117) faring the worst.

Change in Winning Percentage in First Season of New Baseball Stadium

Data compiled by Smart Politics.

Follow Smart Politics on Twitter.