The Red Sox Play Better When They're not at Home

Greetings From Fenway Park!
The surprising Boston Red Sox and their fans have hit another milestone in this magical and mysterious tour through the 2002 season. The kids are now out of school but the Sox remain in first place. Still ahead of those also-running New Yorkers and still holding on to that coveted B.R.I.B. ? Best Record in Baseball.

But astonishingly, despite their success so far, the Sox have won barely half their home games. The key to this Club has not been its play in suddenly, not-so-Friendly Fenway, but its amazing record away from home. The Red Sox this season are Baseball?s Road Warriors; winning a stunning 80 per cent of their first 31 away games and currently sporting an extraordinary road record of 26 wins against only 8 losses. According to an almost giddy Sox P.R. department it?s merely the best start on the road in major league baseball history.

This home-road disparity, of course, makes no sense. As Sox veteran Rickey Henderson explains, playing at home is supposed to be an advantage.
Rickey?s Quote #1 (track 15, start at 30 seconds)

?The biggest thing -- we want to win at home. More than anything you try to dominate at home? the road trip you try to play five hundred?[edit] (T 15, 55 seconds). You never feel that you?re going to be a better road ball club than you are at home. You always want to be able to play good at your home park?[edit]
(T 15, 35 seconds) But we?re playing better on the road than we is at home? (Mark: This last line sets up the next line ? any chance of leaving it in?)
The Sox are playing better away from Fenway and Sox players, not surprisingly, are pretty much at a loss to explain the inexplicable. Second baseman Lou Merloni thinks the Sox schedule so far has been a factor:

Merloni Quote (track #3, start at 9 seconds)

?I just think that if you look at our last two home stands, Colorado and Arizona are two very good teams and the home stand before that being Seattle, Oakland, New York and Chicago I mean those are four of the best teams in our League. The last six teams at home we faced some very very good teams and I think if you just look at it that way you know you?re not going to consistently beat all those good teams? {Mark if we?ve got time for this (Lou and Rickey are fast talkers) I think leaving the bold portion of this quote in helps a lot -- it sets up the next line and explains Merloni?s point better--- whaddayathink?}

Sorry Lou. Nice theory, but the Sox have also played Oakland, Seattle and New York on the road, and consistently beat them there, winning an impressive seven out of 10.

Then there?s the Tony Clark Hypothesis: According to the Red Sox first baseman maybe it?s the uniforms.

Clark Quote (track #10, start at 19 seconds)

?I?ll tell you what?(edit)?I can?t put my finger on it, we?ve even joked about wearing our grays at home to see if that makes a difference but hopefully we can turn it around.

Hey Tony, I know you?re only kidding, but those drab gray road uni?s don?t make anyone look better why would they make them play better? So please don?t even joke about wearing those hideous away polyesters for even one game more than you absolutely have too.
Rickey, meanwhile, blames that old New England scapegoat, the Weather:
Rickey Quote #2 (Track 15, Start at 1:03)

?We?ve been having bad weather here, that?s a big reason. It?s in June, cold fifty degrees, rainy and stuff. We really haven?t had great weather in Boston so far and we?ve been having better weather on the road so that could be a big part of it too.?

The Fenway weather has definitely been yucky lately
but, Rickey, hasn?t it been 50 degrees and raining for the other team too?
Fortunately for Sox fans, Thomas Wolfe wasn?t writing about Baseball ? the Red Sox can, and will, go home again next week. The shocking thing is, if the Sox somehow keep exploiting their newfound Road-Field Advantage, they may not want to.

Fade to the Nields? ?He Loves The Road More Than Me?

For NHPR news I?m Pete Foley.