Minnesota Twins Notch 5th Best Home Record for New MLB Stadiums in Modern Era

While the ultimate success or failure of the Minnesota Twins’ first season at Target Field will be determined in the coming days in the playoffs, ownership – and those who backed the publicly funded stadium – can point to some short-term success, according to at least one metric.

A Smart Politics analysis of Major League Baseball team records finds that the Twins’ 53-28 record (.654) at home during the 2010 season is the fifth best home winning percentage among the 20 MLB franchises who have opened up new stadiums over the past 21 years.

Despite sputtering to the finish, losing three of four to Toronto in the final homestand of the season, only four other teams have fared better in their first season in a new stadium in the modern era.

The New York Yankees lead the way with a 57-24 record (.704) during their 2009 campaign in the new Yankee Stadium, followed by the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field in 1996 (56-25; .691), the Cleveland Indians at Jacobs Field during the strike-shortened 1994 season (35-16; .686), and the San Francisco Giants at Pacific Bell Park in 2000 (55-26; .679).

The Twins’ stellar home record in 2010 helped them notch the second best record among American League division winners, and thus earn home-field advantage during the division playoffs that begin on Wednesday (hosting the AL Wild Card, the New York Yankees).

Best Home Record in First Year of New MLB Stadium, 1989-2010

Rank	Team	Field	Year	Record	%
1	New York Yankees	Yankee Stadium	2009	57-24	.704
2	Atlanta Braves	Turner Field	1996	56-25	.691
3	Cleveland Indians	Jacobs Field	1994	35-16	.686
4	San Francisco Giants	Pacific Bell Park	2000	55-26	.679
5	Minnesota Twins	Target Field	2010	53-28	.654
6	St. Louis Cardinals	Busch Stadium	2006	49-31	.613
7	Chicago White Sox	Comiskey Park	1991	46-35	.568
7	Toronto Blue Jays	SkyDome	1989	46-35	.568
9	Detroit Tigers	Comerica Park	2000	43-38	.531
9	Seattle Mariners	Safeco Field	1999	43-38	.531
9	Baltimore Orioles	Camden Yards	1992	43-38	.531
12	San Diego Padres	Petco Park	2004	42-39	.519
12	Philadelphia Phillies	Citizens Bank Park	2004	42-39	.519
14	New York Mets	Citi Field	2009	41-40	.506
15	Texas Rangers	The Ballpark in Arlington	1994	31-32	.492
16	Houston Astros	Enron Field	2000	39-42	.481
17	Pittsburgh Pirates	PNC Park	2001	38-43	.469
18	Milwaukee Brewers	Miller Park	2001	36-45	.444
19	Cincinnati Reds	Great American Ball Park	2003	35-46	.432
20	Washington Nationals	Nationals Park	2008	34-46	.425

Table compiled by Smart Politics.

A deeper look into the data, however, shows that while the Twins performed well above average in terms of wins and losses compared to other teams on their new home turf (ahem, grass), they only performed slightly better than average when measuring the year-to-year improvement from the previous season.

Minnesota was already a playoff-bound division winner after the 2009 campaign, notching a 49-33 home record, or a .598 winning percentage, so the pieces were already in place for a strong team in 2010.

Overall, the Twins improved by +0.056 percentage points at home from 2009 to 2010, which is good for 8th best among the 20 teams with new stadiums since the late 1980s.

The best year-to-year home record turnaround during this span came from the Baltimore Orioles, improving by 10 games and +.124 percentage points from 1991 (33-48; .407) to their first year at Camden Yards in 1992 (43-38; .531).

Also notching better year-to-year turnarounds in the first year of their new stadiums than the 2010 Twins are the 1994 Cleveland Indians (+.118), the 2009 New York Yankees (+.111), the 2004 San Diego Padres (+.087), the 1996 Atlanta Braves (+.080), the 2000 San Francisco Giants (+.074), and the 2000 Detroit Tigers (+.062).

Still, a new stadium does not guarantee instant success or improvement, as demonstrated by the fact that 9 out of 20 teams actually took a step back during their inaugural campaign in their new stadium. This includes seven teams that had winning home records during the previous year – the last in their old stadium.

Biggest Improvement in New MLB Stadium from Previous Year, 1989-2010

Rank	Team	Previous	%	Year 1	%	Change
1	Baltimore Orioles	33-48	.407	43-38	.531	+.124
2	Cleveland Indians	46-35	.568	35-16	.686	+.118
3	New York Yankees	48-33	.593	57-24	.704	+.111
4	San Diego Padres	35-46	.432	42-39	.519	+.087
5	Atlanta Braves	44-28	.611	56-25	.691	+.080
6	San Francisco Giants	49-32	.605	55-26	.679	+.074
7	Detroit Tigers	38-43	.469	43-38	.531	+.062
8	Minnesota Twins	49-33	.598	53-28	.654	+.056
9	Seattle Mariners	42-39	.519	43-38	.531	+.012
9	Pittsburgh Pirates	37-44	.457	38-43	.469	+.012
9	Toronto Blue Jays	45-36	.556	46-35	.568	+.012
12	St. Louis Cardinals	50-31	.617	49-31	.613	-.004
13	Cincinnati Reds	38-43	.469	35-46	.432	-.037
14	Chicago White Sox	49-31	.613	46-35	.568	-.045
15	Washington Nationals	40-41	.494	34-46	.425	-.069
16	Milwaukee Brewers	42-39	.519	36-45	.444	-.075
17	Philadelphia Phillies	49-32	.605	42-39	.519	-.086
18	New York Mets	48-33	.593	41-40	.506	-.087
19	Texas Rangers	50-31	.617	31-32	.492	-.125
20	Houston Astros	50-32	.610	39-42	.481	-.129

Table compiled by Smart Politics.

Of course, there are other measures of success for the business of sports franchises, such as attendance.

On this metric, the season was an unquestionable success for the Twins, with over 800,000 more fans in attendance this season compared to 2009. Overall, attendance was up 33.4 percent at Target Field from the 2009 final season at the Metrodome.

Drawing 3.2 million fans to Target Field in 2010 made the Twins the third best among the 14 American League teams, up from a fifth place showing for the Twins in 2009 (2.4 million).

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