Major League Baseball is unique in that when the batter on the away team steps into the batter’s box, the noise from the home crowd has no influence.

The crowd noise can’t affect the communication line between the batter and his third base coach. The third base coach doesn’t shout out the call as if he were a quarterback changing the play behind the line of scrimmage. Instead, the third base coach communicates to the batter through hand gestures, which the batter can easily pick up.

Once the batter has picked up his sign from his coach, all he worries about is what the pitcher will throw to him. The crowd is silenced in this moment of time because the batter is so focused on the pitch.

When the Boston Red Sox take the field against the Detroit Tigers or when the Los Angeles Dodgers play at St. Louis, the crowd noise or the stadium won’t be an issue. All they’ll focus on is playing nine innings and trying to outscore their opponents.

Having home field advantage in the MLB is different from the NFL or NBA. Verbal communication is key in the NFL and NBA. If a quarterback wants to switch up the play at the line of scrimmage or hike the ball, he’ll need to shout loudly. The crowd noise creates an atmosphere that makes it difficult for the offensive line and wide receivers to hear. The same can be said for the NBA, when the point guard is dribbling the ball and shouting what play for the offense to run.

With baseball, the majority of the crowd standing on its feet and screaming only occurs when a big play is on the rise. Looking at the MLB playoffs this season, three out of the nine series’ (including the wild card game) the team with home field advantage has advanced, according to the bleacherreport.com. Since 2003, in 37 out of 72 series teams with home field advantage have advanced in the playoffs, according to the bleacherreport.com.

In the NBA postseason, 73 percent of teams who have home court advantage have won the series since 2004.

Given the statistics in past years, when a team loses their home field advantage in baseball, the series is not over. MLB teams have the opportunity to win on the road just as easily as they do at home. While a great fan base can boost the home team’s confidence, at the end of the day the team with the best pitching and hitting that day will end up winning the game whether that is the home or away team.`