Baseball teams have considerable advantages playing at home:
- Home team players may be likely to get better rest, sleeping in their own beds, rather than traveling and sleeping in a hotel
- The team is beneficiary of fan support
- Since ballparks are different, the team can be tailored to take advantage of idiosyncrancies of the home field
- The home team gets the final at-bat
But, do these advantages really translate into additional victories at home?
Using Major League Baseball statistics for the 2011 season, as of September 5, the answer is yes, although the amount of the advantage might be less than one would think.
Home Team Winning Percentage
For both the American and National League combined, the home team won 1,119 and lost 997, a 52.9 percent winning percentage. To put it into perspective, that 53% would result in 86 wins, a record that would result in also ran status in most every division every year.