Below the Box Score – A Weekly Look at the Lesser Watched Statistics in Baseball

 

Editor note: Below the Box Score is a new weekly recurring segment that will discuss the lesser analyzed portions of the box score: namely attendance, time of game, weather, and ejections.  We hope you enjoy.

Opening Day is always an exciting one, with fans ready for Summer, but often times, the hype of Opening Day fails to translate into the following week, with teams playing in mostly empty stadia early on.  This was no more clear than in Arizona, Atlanta, Baltimore, and Cincinnati this week, where the minimum attendance was in some cases more than 30,000 less than the Opening Day.  For some, this is attributable to bad weather that’s often found in April, but for others it’s an indication of the fan’s expectations for the coming year.

On the other side of the spectrum there are the Blue Jays, who have drawn >47,000 for their first series. Clearly expectations are high in the Rogers Centre. Or perhaps they’re just all there to see the new all-dirt infield.

In regards to changes to the pace of play, it seems to be having an effect, with only one game going longer than four hours last week (surprisingly in only 9 innings). The Orioles seem to be the big winners, with an average game play of 2:50, though this might be attributable to winning five straight low-scoring games.

In the weather world, the coldest it got on opening week was a somewhat-balmy-for-April 31 degrees in the Tigers-Yankees game on Saturday. Meanwhile in Phoenix, the mercury topped the scale at 90 degrees for the Diamondbacks against the Rockies.  The D-Backs unsurprisingly had the highest average temperature over the last week at 87 degrees, which will be the status quo on all Arizona homestands until the roof gets closed in mid-to-late May.

Finally, there were four ejections this week, two of managers and two of players. The honor of the first ejection of 2016 goes to Rangers’ reliever Tom Wilhelmsen1.

 

Below is a quick look at the miscellany, and below that we have three tables of raw data for your reading enjoyment.  The first is for home teams, then away, then total games played by team.  Enjoy!

 

Attendance:

 

Lowest attendance last week: Cleveland (vs Boston), Wednesday, April 6th. 10,298.

Highest-Lowest attendance last week: Toronto (vs Boston), Sunday, April 10th. 46,158

Highest attendance last week: Colorado (vs San Diego), Friday, April 8th. 49,360.

Lowest-Highest attendance last week: Tampa (vs Toronto), Sunday, April 3rd. 31,042.

 

 

Game time:

Longest game last week: D-Backs vs Rockies, Monday, April 4th. 4:11 (10-5 COL)

Shortest game last week: Reds vs Phillies, Wednesday, April 6th. 2:23 (3-2 CIN)

Quickest average game for the week: Baltimore, 2:50 average over 5 games.

Longest average game for the week: Miami, 3:23 average over 4 games.

 

 

Weather:

Warmest game last week: Diamondbacks vs Rockies, 90 degrees, Monday, April 4th.

Coldest game last week: Tigers vs Yankees, 31 degrees, Saturday, April 9th.

Warmest average for the week: Diamondbacks, 87 degrees over 7 games.

Coldest average for the week: Yankees, 39.9 degrees over 5 games.

Windiest game last week: Tie: Yankees-Astros and Reds-Phillies, both at 24 MPH.

Windiest week: Astros, 17.7 MPH over 6 games.

 

 

Ejections:

Total ejections last week: 4

Ejections by league: AL 3, NL 1

 

 

Raw data:

Home games

Team# of GamesMin AttMax AttAvg AttMin GametimeMax GametimeAvg GametimeMin TempMax TempAvg TempMin WindMax WindAvg WindEjections
Angels635097440203809402:3403:3002:59617667.83105.7
Athletics410478350671864802:5403:2803:06658371.80105.8
Blue Jays346158488714738902:2703:2402:53
Braves518531482822966402:5303:5503:20557562.8102013.2
Brewers620098443182920102:2903:3503:08
Diamondbacks718572481652945802:3904:1103:12829087465
Giants441224419404164102:5803:2203:08586761.34107.8
Indians210298344932239603:1303:2903:21346047787.5
Mariners330834470653810802:5403:0302:57576763.7162.7
Marlins217883369112739703:2203:4703:34777777161616
Mets337083440993947202:4403:0902:56414744.372112
Nationals224593416503312202:5203:3203:124361522116.5
Orioles511142457852199102:3203:1102:50445850.2575.8
Padres328329443173423302:3603:1002:546572696128.3
Pirates314890395002681303:0203:2703:12396347.371512
Rangers326945492893487302:3803:3003:01748379.341291
Rays412757310421829302:4703:0702:55
Reds610784436832388102:2303:2402:58385546.792417.3
Rockies327587493603737502:3803:4803:16626262285.3
Royals527166400303465902:5103:2303:09587365.4101714.4
Tigers232419450493873402:4403:2003:02313834.5111814.51
White Sox220192380192910602:4302:4502:44323935.5131815.5
Yankees330003478203843903:0003:4503:20365745.3112417.7

Away games

Team# of GamesMin AttMax AttAvg AttMin GametimeMax GametimeAvg GametimeMin TempMax TempAvg TempMin WindMax WindAvg WindEjections
Astros628127478203366403:0003:4503:14365745.3112417.7
Athletics330834470653810802:5403:0302:57576763.7162.7
Blue Jays412757310421829302:4703:0702:55
Cardinals614890395002699103:0003:5503:20396352.772013.5
Cubs624656440203311702:3403:2903:01758277.7686.7
Dodgers728329443173846602:3603:2203:02587264.641281
Giants320098443182951302:2903:3503:07
Indians220192380192910602:4302:4502:44323935.5131815.5
Mariners326945492893487302:3803:3003:01748379.34129
Marlins224593416503312202:5203:3203:124361522116.5
Mets239782400303990602:5103:1303:02687370.5141715.5
Nationals218531482823340702:5303:2303:08657570101110.5
Padres327587493603737502:3803:4803:16626262285.3
Phillies610784440993241702:2303:0902:52415546.872415.5
Pirates317194272072240003:0003:2403:0938534491915.7
Rangers435097390893687502:4303:3003:046167643105
Rays217304231012020302:4602:5302:49445047565.5
Red Sox510298488713739202:2703:2903:04346047787.5
Rockies318572481652952202:3904:1103:21899089.5454.5
Tigers217883369112739703:2203:4703:34777777161616
Twins611142457852717202:3203:2303:02486857.25179.81
White Sox410478350671864802:5403:2803:06658371.80105.8
Yankees232419450493873402:4403:2003:02313834.5111814.5

All games

Team# of GamesMin AttMax AttAvg AttMin GametimeMax GametimeAvg GametimeMin TempMax TempAvg TempMin WindMax WindAvg WindEjections
Angels635097440203809402:3403:3002:59617667.83105.7
Astros628127478203366403:0003:4503:14365745.3112417.7
Athletics710478470652698802:5403:2803:01578367.80104.3
Blue Jays712757488713076302:2703:2402:54
Braves518531482822966402:5303:5503:20557562.8102013.2
Brewers620098443182920102:2903:3503:08
Cardinals614890395002699103:0003:5503:20396352.772013.5
Cubs624656440203311702:3403:2903:01758277.7686.7
Diamondbacks718572481652945802:3904:1103:12829087465
Dodgers728329443173846602:3603:2203:02587264.641281
Giants720098443183644302:2903:3503:07586761.34107.8
Indians410298380192575102:4303:2903:02326041.371811.5
Mariners626945492893649102:3803:3002:59578371.51125.9
Marlins417883416503026002:5203:4703:23437764.521611.3
Mets537083440993964602:4403:1302:59417357.472113.8
Nationals418531482823326502:5203:3203:104375612118.5
Orioles511142457852199102:3203:1102:50445850.2575.8
Padres627587493603580402:3603:4803:05627265.52126.8
Phillies610784440993241702:2303:0902:52415546.872415.5
Pirates614890395002460703:0003:2703:10386345.771913.9
Rangers726945492893601702:3803:3003:02618371.731271
Rays612757310421893002:4603:0702:52445047565.5
Red Sox510298488713739202:2703:2903:04346047787.5
Reds610784436832388102:2303:2402:58385546.792417.3
Rockies618572493603344902:3804:1103:18629075.8284.9
Royals527166400303465902:5103:2303:09587365.4101714.4
Tigers417883450493306602:4403:4703:18317755.8111815.31
Twins611142457852717202:3203:2303:02486857.25179.81
White Sox610478380192213402:4303:2802:55328353.701810.7
Yankees530003478203855702:4403:4503:11315739.9112416.1
  1. Who just happens to be renting my house. True story…