and how it can effect games at Petco Park.
“In the simplest terms, when you’re close to the water, there’s more moisture in the air and the air is cooler,” said Miller. “The air becomes less dense with water in it, lighter than typical air molecules, so the ball can fly farther in the moister air. But when the marine layer moves in, like a big blob of cold air pouring over the stadium walls and onto the field, the air is more dense and harder for the ball to go through.
“Those two effects compete against each other, and depending on which one is winning at the time, the ball goes farther or not as far when it’s hit.”
“If that cutoff of the sea breeze always occurs during the game, there’s a higher chance that it will work to the slight advantage of the visiting team, because it’s batting first,” said Miller. “The visiting team will always have just a little bit more wind than the Padres do. So there could be a quantifiable measure if you actually measured the wind break (at Petco) and compared that to the statistics of the team hitting.”
