Pitching in Fenway in the middle of the steroid era is in no way comparable to being in Dodger Stadium during Dead Ball Era III. Pedro was a better pitcher over his career than Kershaw, even if the stat lines look similar.
I always blindly accepted park factors as easily measurable and reliable components of ERA+ or OPS+, but I'd never really looked into them. I had no idea how variable they are. Just look at Fenway over the last 25 years, especially during Pedro's 99-2002 peak.
There have been a few changes to the place that could have impacted wind patterns, but nothing too major. The field and walls are all exactly where they've been for the last 90 years. How does the runs factor vary so wildly from year to year? Is weather really that big a deal? Or are park factors overall kind of bullshit with pitching performance making the data very noisy?
I always blindly accepted park factors as easily measurable and reliable components of ERA+ or OPS+, but I'd never really looked into them. I had no idea how variable they are. Just look at Fenway over the last 25 years, especially during Pedro's 99-2002 peak.
There have been a few changes to the place that could have impacted wind patterns, but nothing too major. The field and walls are all exactly where they've been for the last 90 years. How does the runs factor vary so wildly from year to year? Is weather really that big a deal? Or are park factors overall kind of bullshit with pitching performance making the data very noisy?