World Series Home-Field Advantage: Lots of Options for Change
By Zac Snyder
Oct 29, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; San Francisco Giants shortstop
(35) turns a double play over Kansas City Royals left fielder
(4) in the fourth inning during game seven of the 2014 World Series at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
Winning percentage against common opponents
Interleague play guarantees some common data points between the World Series participants such that looking at how each team performed against common opponents and head-to-head (when applicable) could be used to award home-field advantage.
Pros: It’s the most apples-to-apples record-based comparison we’ll get between leagues.
Cons: It might look like apples-to-apples on the surface, but it’s still apples-to-pears because of how circumstances could skew the situation. The NL team will have much more exposure to the common NL opponents while the opposite would be true on the AL site. Say for instance the Los Angeles Dodgers are a common opponents and the AL team was fortunate enough to miss Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke in their one three-game series. It’s likely the NL team would have had to face both of those guys, perhaps multiple times during the regular season.
Next: Put it in the hands of the fans