Home teams dominate baseball

NEW YORK -- Fans who root, root, root for the home team are leaving ballparks a lot happier this year.

Home teams have won nearly 57 percent of games, the highest figure in the major leagues since 1978. They had a 778-590 record entering Thursday, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, which comes to a .569 winning percentage. Last year's mark was .542.

Boston is 34-10 at Fenway Park and just 21-29 on the road, and the Chicago Cubs were 35-10 at Wrigley Field and 20-26 away from home. The Cardinals were 26-21 at home and 25-20 on the road.

Four of the six division leaders had losing records on the road, with the Cubs joined by the Chicago White Sox, Arizona and Tampa Bay.

"There should be no reason we should sweep the White Sox at home and get swept at their place, because everybody's sleeping in their own beds," Cubs second baseman Mark DeRosa said. "It's not like we're flying somewhere, changing times and having to readjust. I can't figure out why. You can understand in different sports, especially football, where home-field advantage is such a key."

DeRosa sure has it right when it comes to other sports.

Home teams had a .601 winning percentage in the NBA last season -- it was as high as .628 in 2002-03. In the NFL, home teams were at .574 last year, down from .613 in 2003.

But baseball, where so much depends on starting pitchers, traditionally has been influenced less by which team wears home whites.

Home teams were at .517 in the strike-interrupted 1994 season, the lowest percentage since division play began in 1969. The highest mark since then was .573 in 1978.

Homefield advantage would be even more pronounced this year without interleague play: NL clubs were just 55-70 at their ballparks against the AL going into Thursday's Yankees-Pirates game in Pittsburgh.

"It could be one of those cycles, where every team has found a grouping of players that really play well in their park," Los Angeles Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "When you're trying to build a team that's going to play 81 games in the same ballpark, you certainly want to pay attention to the little nuances of your park and the type of offensive club you have to bring onto the field."

Having last licks also plays into it.

"When a game is tied and you're at home, you normally bring in your best pitcher, which is your closer, and he helps you get to your next at-bat," Yankees center fielder Johnny Damon said. "When you're the road team, you don't necessarily bring in your top guy."

Mariano Rivera's four wins this season have all come at Yankee Stadium after he entered with the score tied in the top of the ninth.