Sports by the Numbers

Baseball Word Problems

2008-08-18T17:37:31Z

If a major league team holds a four-and-a-half game lead with 39 games left to play, how many games do they need to win the rest of the season to guarantee baseball in October for their fans? What if the second place team only has 38 games left to play - and they trail by five in the loss column?

Well, it depends.

If you told me the team in question is the New York Yankees then I'd say they need to post 21-18 and see how bad the Red Sox want to repeat. If you lost 18 times, that means you still would win 96 games - and Boston would have to close at a torrid 25-13 clip to draw even.

Except, well - you know we aren't talking about the Yankees . . . at all, because they are in third place and barring a math-miracle they will be sitting at home this October.

The ~~Devil~~ Rays are in first place.

Now this really is a word problem - because first place is not something we have grown accustomed to using in conjunction with the Rays, despite the fact they have spent 61 days on top of their division this season already.

They have also eclipsed the previous franchise high of - ahem - 70, wins. Yet they are only twelfth in the league in terms of attendance, so clearly even the home crowd isn't accustomed to what we are seeing.

How many games do the Rays need to win to clinch the division?

Well, all of them.

They can't afford to lose any - and they especially can't afford to lose two or three in a row. They lost three key players last week, but still won 7 of 10 on the road.

Not bad - not enough, either.

The truth is that if the Rays play 20-19 ball in the final weeks, the Red Sox would still have to play 24-14 baseball the rest of the way to catch them.

Here are some interesting tidbits on the Red Sox - their longest win streak this season is seven games, and their best record for any one month so far is 16-11.

The Rays worst month so far this season is 13-12.

How are they playing right now? Boston is 10-5 in August, but Tampa is 12-4.

The best positive going for the Rays is that Boston is seven games under .500 on the road - and they have 18 road games remaining.

The Rays have 19 road games remaining - including three in Boston, and three in New York, and the truth is that it will likely come down to how the Red Sox and Rays play each other, and how they play New York.

It is very unlikely that the Yankees can catch both the Red Sox and the Rays - meaning they are probably done. That does not mean, however, that the Yankees won't have a say in who wins the division.

The Red Sox and the Rays have six games left against New York - all of them in September. Tampa closes out the season with four games in Detroit, while Boston hosts the Yankees for three.

The worst negative going against the Rays is that the final week of the season Boston is at home and the Rays are on the road - but the truth is, at 75-48, and five up in the loss column, the Rays are actually in control.

If they can split the six games with Boston and split the six games with New York, then they will do the unthinkable and win their division.

Take six games off the schedule and call them a wash - which is what splitting six games with Boston would do - and what you have left is a 33 game schedule with a five game advantage in the loss column.

Do the math, and the Rays could post 17-16. Boston would only have 32 games left, so the Red Sox would need to play 21-11 down the stretch against a schedule that includes the Yankees (6), Baltimore (6), and Toronto (9) - division rivals that would love nothing more than to keep Boston out of the playoffs.

Tampa back at the Trop, still on Top

2008-08-18T15:14:08Z

Sports by the Numbers MLB Stat of the Week

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491 The road winning percentage (.491) for Tampa through 61 games. The Rays beat the Indians at home back on August 6, in stunning walk-off fashion--and then they left for a ten game road trip that skipper Joe Maddon said would be "great" if they could just play .500 ball. It was the first Dog Days road trip in franchise history that was actually important, because they began the trip with a 3.5 game lead over Boston. Well, the Rays are back home now, fresh off a 7-3 trip that saw them pick up a game on Boston and three more games on the Yankees. Tampa leads the East by 4.5, with 39 to go. Six left against Boston, six left against New York--half on the road, half at home.

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Honorable Mentions

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4 Tim Lincecum is going to get some Cy Young attention--but if he got to pitch against the Braves a few more times, he'd win the award unanimously. The Giants phenom now has (4) wins against Bobby Cox and the Braves--winning all four of his career starts against Atlanta. Shane Reynolds is the only other pitcher in baseball who won his first four career starts against the Braves while Bobby Cox was managing.

7 The jersey number (7) retired by the Houston Astros in honor of Craig Biggio. The ceremony took place on Sunday, and for Biggio this was a well-deserved honor. The guy is going to the Hall of Fame, and even though he never won a ring as a player, there is plenty of talk that he will one day get a shot at it as a manager. Joe Torre and plenty of others got their rings that way, and true baseball fans will be pulling for Biggio to do the same.

12 The Arizona Diamondbacks got dealt a two-hit shutout for the second time in the past (12) days--and both times the Big Unit was the victim. Randy Johnson is working hard to get his D-Backs an invite to October, but Arizona's offense is not cooperating. On August 6, Johnson lost a 2-0 decision when Jeff Karstens tossed a two-hit shutout for the Pirates--and after beating Colorado 4-2 in his next start, Johnson lost a 3-0 decision to the Astros on Sunday when Roy Oswalt and Jose Valverde combined for a two-hitter. The last time a pitcher fell victim to a lack of support on that level was back in 1999, when you guessed it, Randy Johnson suffered through three starts in a span of 11 days where the D-Backs were shutout on no hits, one hit, and two hits.

25 Manny Ramirez got (25) hits during his first 16 games with the Dodgers. It looks like this trade is working out a tad better for LA than did signing Andruw Jones, who has only 33 hits in 74 games with his new club. Ramirez hit six home runs among his 25 hits, and he drove home 21 runs. In case you are curious, LA is 10-6 since the trade and has climbed from three games back to being tied for first with 38 to go.

30 Brad Lidge now has (30) saves--and he has yet to blow one for the Phillies. He struck out the side in the ninth against the Padres on Sunday, which I guess would be more impressive if he had done it against a team that actually has an offense that shows up from time to time--but nonetheless, he is perfect on the season, and that includes work against some actual major league offenses. He is only the third N.L. pitcher since 1975 to convert 30 consecutive saves to begin a season. The others were Eric Gagne for the Dodgers, and the Padres very own Trevor Hoffman.

Sports by the Numbers Available Titles

Jeter Planning an October Vacation

2008-08-18T13:07:34Z

Sports by the Numbers NYY Stat of the Week

19 The number of four-hit games (19) at Yankee Stadium for Lou Gehrig--the most in franchise history. Derek Jeter went 4 for 4 on Sunday, giving him 18 four-hit games in the Bronx. Jeter needs another four-hit performance at home to tie Gehrig, but there are only 16 home games left on the schedule--and that's it, permanently.

Honorable Mentions

12 The number of games (12) left on the schedule against Tampa and Boston. There are four series left against the two teams ahead of NY in the division standings--the Yanks have home-and-away three game sets left with the Rays and the Red Sox. The last three games of the season are at Fenway--let's hope they still matter when the time comes.

16 The number of games (16) left for Yankee Stadium--unless there is a miracle in the Bronx that propels the Yanks into the post-season. Derek Jeter is a perfect 12 for 12 in his career--he has one post-season for every spring training in which he made the big club--but that streak is in serious jeopardy. If the Yankees do not rally, who takes responsibility for this season?

115 Mike Mussina is Hall of Fame worthy--so says the Elias Sports Bureau, which reported that Moose's victory on Sunday pushed his career record to (115) games above the .500 mark. His record stands at 266-151. There are only 18 pitchers in baseball history who have records that far above .500, and 12 of them are in the Hall of Fame, five of them are not yet eligible (Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Greg Maddux, Pedro Martinez, and Mussina), and the last guy is Bob Caruthers--who played nine seasons back in the 1800s.

532 The team winning percentage (.532) after posting a 66-58 record through 124 games in 2008. The last time the Yankees posted a lower winning percentage for an entire season was 1992. There is still time to improve, of course--38 games to be exact.

645 The team winning percentage (.645) in 1923. The first title in franchise history came in the inaugural season for Yankee Stadium--it would be a fitting capstone to one of the greatest sports cathedrals in the world if it could go out the way it came in. It's right about now that I really wish Joe Torre was back East--and surely I'm not alone in thinking that.
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Sports by the Numbers Available Titles

Rays hold Team meeting at Home Plate

2008-08-07T04:00:48Z

By David Horne, Sports by the Numbers co-author

Carlos Pena and the "Devil" free Rays held an impromptu meeting at home plate on Wednesday afternoon - and it sent all but a few traitorous Bay area residents among the 27,533 in attendance into mass hysteria.

I was lucky enough to be at The Trop today for an event that might reverberate all the way into October - and I say that because the Rays are embarking on a ten game road trip now, and to lose a home series to the Indians would have been an inauspicious send-off at best for the first "Dog Days" road trip in franchise history that actually has meaning.

Now, courtesy of Gabe Gross and Carlos Pena, the Rays just got one of the loudest, most boisterous, and I suspect, most convincing send-offs we will witness this season - because if you are not a believer now, if you do not think the Rays can hang with Red Sox Nation and the Bronx Bombers for a few more weeks, then you should check out the atmosphere around The Trop for yourself.

I must confess that I have been guilty of committing the cardinal sin of wearing Red Sox apparel in past trips south of the causeway to what can only be described as the worst place in the big leagues to play ball, now that the Nats have new digs.

I don't mean the geography, just the dome.

The dome, however, now has a true atmosphere - it really is The Trop, and you might just need to see it to believe it. I was there for the Boston series back in June, and it is true that there were many Red Sox faithful on hand - too many, in fact, because I am a true convert now.

Today though, for a 12:40 start, there were thousands of fans outside the gates two hours early - and it took a long while to find any of them wearing Indians gear. Those traitorous few who dared to show up in support of Cleveland heard about it from what can only be described as the "Rays Faithful."

That is a phrase no one could have imagined being uttered in the past, for an event that never would have happened in the past.

I was on hand once for an interleague game against the Braves, at The Trop, where the fans gave the Atlanta sluggers a standing ovation during batting practice.

Well, times have changed.

The Braves once went from worst-to-first, and now the Rays think they can do the same.

I, for one, believe them.

On Tuesday the Rays surpassed their win total from last year, today they added on the most dramatic win in franchise history, and on this ten game road trip that begins on Thursday they have the opportunity to set a franchise record for most wins in a season.

Last year the Rays were 43-70 after 113 games, but today they are 68-45 after 113 games in 2008. Check my math, but that looks like a 25 game turnaround to me - for a team that is playing an unbalanced schedule in the A.L. East.

That is the same division as the aforementioned Red Sox and Yankees, of course, which is a notoriously tough division to hang around in - an understatement on par with calling "Tiger Woods a pretty good golfer."

The Indians Franklin Gutierrez led off today's game with a home run, and his teammate Jhonny Peralta went 5 for 5 with a pair of doubles and a homerun - both of which were really great performances.

It was the third time I've seen a lead-off homerun in person, and only the second time I've seen a five hit performance - but I've never been to a game where there was a lead-off homerun, a five hit performance, and a walk-off homerun.

I aim to look it up, actually, because I'm curious to know how many times that has even happened in the past.

For now, however, it is sufficient to know that the Rays have nine walk-off wins this season - and because of the drama involved in this one, the performances today of Gutierrez and Peralta are pretty much, well, of no consequence.

Exactly, a franchise record 70 wins in 2004 - but now, with nine walk-off wins this year they are a season high 23 games above .500, they have now spent 51 days in first place, and there is an air about this team that is not only gathering headlines, but respect.

Baseball fans, it is time to start pulling for these Rays.

Junior needs a ring, Guillen, well . . .

2008-08-05T08:54:51Z

By David Horne, Sports by the Numbers co-author

Just for the record, Ozzie Guillen was a fine major league shortstop. He won the 1985 A.L. Rookie of the Year award, was a three-time All-Star, and somehow stole a Gold Glove from Cal Ripken in 1990.

Ripken, in case you are wondering, made only three errors in 161 games, and played 95 consecutive games that season without making an error - Guillen made 17 errors in 159 games, go figure.

I saw both Ripken and Guillen play in person, and while they were completely different kinds of shortstops, they were both great in their own way.

I say that in order to make this point - I'm not writing about Ozzie Guillen the player. He played hard, he played to win, and though he lost his only shot at a World Series title as a player, he did get a ring as manager of the White Sox in 2005 - and that is the Ozzie Guillen that concerns me.

I want Ken Griffey, Jr. to get a ring.

I think he needs one. I think every great player needs a ring to complete their resume, and yes, I recognize there are some true legends that never got one. I don't mean to diminish their accomplishments, but if they are honest, I have to believe they felt something was missing when they hung up their spikes.

I remember pulling for Junior back when he was The Kid, and I'm glad I saw him play in his prime. I'm also glad the Reds gave him a shot at a pennant race by trading him to the White Sox - but that also leads to this problem I'm having.

Ozzie Guillen the manager annoys me.

I am a baseball fan, though, and as a rule I never pull against teams, players, or managers. If my team is in the pennant race, then sure, I want them to win and gain ground on the teams closest to them - but I don't want to back into a title, I want to go out and win more games than anyone else.

So I don't pull for teams to lose - all teams lose on their own, and lose a lot. The best teams in baseball will lose 60-70 games a year. I want my team to make the playoffs because they won the most games, not because the competition acted like the 2007 version of the Mets.

I have to admit though, I'm having a hard time not pulling against the White Sox - and I'm honest enough to say Ozzie is the reason.

Now, however, Junior is there - and this is tricky.

Junior needs a ring. He deserves a shot at a ring. He needs post-season glory like Reggie Jackson, Kirk Gibson, or Joe Carter.

Guillen got one ring as a manager already, so it is hard to criticize him when there are a lot of managers out there who certainly command more respect and admiration from the fans, media, and players, and yet have never won a title.

He deserves props for that - but again, being honest, I have maintained for nearly three years now that the 2005 White Sox won despite Guillen, not because of him.

I know we call these guys managers - not leaders - but it seems to me there is something to be said for the leadership aspect of the role. I can appreciate Guillen standing up and fighting for his players, and truthfully, hey if he said throw at a guy to protect a teammate, give him props for that, too - but this guy is strictly a manager, and not a leader.

Tommy Lasorda, Sparky Anderson, Joe Torre - managers, yes, but also leaders.

I'm going to be pulling for Junior, and to be honest, Jim Thome deserves another shot at a ring just as much - but Ozzie, man, not that you care or anything, you're making it hard for those of us who call ourselves true fans of the game.

Braves Lose Skip, Tough Year Hits Bottom

2008-08-04T20:21:04Z

Sports by the Numbers MLB Stat of the Week

33 The number of years (33) Skip Caray spent calling games for the Atlanta Braves. The Braves club has been decimated by injuries all season, but they were dealt a much more serious blow on Sunday when they lost Skip Caray. Those of us who grew up on TBS will miss his legendary humor, his sarcasm, his intimate knowledge of the game, but most of all, we will miss his passion and love for the game that were so evident in his broadcasts.

Honorable Mentions

6 Francisco Liriano tossed (6) scoreless innings against Cleveland on Sunday. The Twins lefty earned his first big league victory since July 23, 2006, but more importantly, the Twins are now in first place in the Central Division, half a game ahead of the White Sox. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire is hoping to keep his team ahead in the standings, and he said of Liriano's performance after the game, "That's a good start to having him back in the rotation."

12 If you think the Braves will not play a role in determining the winner of the N.L. East, well think again - Atlanta plays (12) consecutive games against Philadelphia and New York during the final two weeks of the season. The Braves have been plagued by injuries all season - and plagued as well by their inability to win close ball games (6-23 in one run games) or anything on the road (18-35) - but their schedule and their play in September could have a big impact on who gets to play in October. So far, the Mets are 2-7 against the Braves this year, while the Phillies are 10-2.

66 Tampa has won five straight and (66) games overall - only four shy of the franchise record of 70 wins set in 2004. NY and Boston both went 5-5 during their last ten games, and both gave up two games in the standings during that stretch to the Rays. Tampa begins the first full week of August in first place in the A.L. East - and with a three game lead.

598 The winning percentage (.598) for the Chicago Cubs. Just when the Brew Crew caught Chicago in the standings, the Cubs got things going again. Chicago went 7-3 during their last ten games, while Milwaukee went 3-7 during that same stretch. The Cubs now own a five game lead and, at 67-45, the best record in the N.L.

615 The batting average (.615) for Manny Ramirez in three games for the Dodgers. He is off to a good start, batting 8 for 13 with a pair of homeruns and five RBI. Joe Torre said, "He certainly changes the personality of our lineup." The big question that everyone is asking, however, is will Manny cut his hair?

Sports by the Numbers Available Titles

Welcome to Cooperstown

2008-07-28T11:50:21Z

Sports by the Numbers MLB Stat of the Week

52 Goose Gossage, now a member of the Hall of Fame, notched (52) saves in his career during which he pitched more than two innings - an almost unbelievable number. By comparison, Mariano Rivera entered 2008 with 443 saves but had worked more than two innings for a save only once - and Trevor Hoffman, the all-time saves leader, has never pitched more than two innings for a save. Gossage saved 310 games total, and in 125 of those games he recorded six outs or more.

Honorable Mentions

2 Dick Williams won (2) World Series titles during his Hall of Fame managerial career. He won it all in 1972 and 1973 with the Oakland Athletics, but he also won pennants with the Boston Red Sox in 1967, and the San Diego Padres in 1984. Williams and Gossage were inducted into the Hall of Fame over the weekend. Williams said during the ceremony, "It's hard to believe that at age 79, this has to be one of my most memorable times."

14 Greg Maddux has made (14) consecutive starts without a victory. He won game number 350 of his career back on May 10, but he is 0-5 with nine no decisions since then - including his latest effort which San Diego lost, 9-5, to Cincinnati last week. The Padres have lost his last four starts, and seven out of his last nine.

20 The Florida Marlins struck out (20) times on Saturday against the Cubs - and won. Rich Harden started and struck out ten in five innings for Chicago, but Sean Marshall gave up a homerun to Jeremy Hermida that tied the score 2-2 in the eighth. Hermida, who struck out twice, hit two homeruns in the game - and he also scored the winning run when Jorge Cantu doubled in the twelfth.

24 Philadelphia scored (24) runs in three games against the Braves over the weekend. Atlanta scored 27 runs in the series - winning the opener 8-2, but the Braves blew a six run lead on Saturday and lost 10-9, and then on Sunday Atlanta gave up five homeruns, and blew a 5-0 lead, as they lost 12-10.

83 Baltimore gave up (83) runs in a stretch of 15 consecutive Sunday games - all of which they lost. It was the longest losing streak on a single day of the week in the majors since 2004, when Arizona lost 15 straight Saturday games. The Orioles only scored 43 runs during the streak - but they beat Ervin Santana and the LA Angels 5-2 on Sunday to end the skid. Orioles' manager Dave Trembley, who was pestered with questions about the streak in recent days, said after the game, "No questions about Sunday - it's done, it's dead, put it to rest."

Sports by the Numbers Available Titles

Tampa could easily win the N.L. West, but the A.L. East . . .

2008-07-21T16:27:25Z

Sports by the Numbers NYY Stat of the Week

.490 The winning percentage (.490) for the LA Dodgers after a stunning five run rally in the ninth inning on Sunday improved Joe Torre's new club to 48-50 on the season. Diamondbacks' closer Brandon Lyon gave up five hits and five earned as he blew a 4-1 lead - and now the Dodgers and D-Backs are dead-even on top of the, uh, fearsome N.L. West. In the A.L. East right now, the Blue Jays are also 48-50, but they are in fourth place only a half game ahead of the last place Orioles. If the Dodgers win the N.L. West with a .500 record, does Joe Torre still get credit for "leading" his team to the post-season for 13 consecutive years?

Honorable Mentions

9 Mike Mussina has gone at least six innings in his last (9) starts - and in his last four starts he has given up just five earned runs. Mussina, who beat Oakland 7-1 in the club's first game after the break, is second in the league in wins with a 12-6 record, and he leads the staff with a 3.49 ERA - down almost a full run since the end of May. "We looked good today," Mussina said after beating Oakland. "If we can look like this every day, we've got a chance."

35 Since exorcising the "Devil" out of Tampa, the Rays have spent (35) days in first place in 2008. In case you are wondering, that would be 35 more days than the Yankees have spent in first place.

64 The Yankees have (64) games left on the schedule - and they are still in third place, 4.5 games back of the first place Rays. Is it time to worry? In 12 seasons with Joe Torre at the helm, eight times the Yankees were in first place on July 21, and the club was never lower than second. Working backwards from 2007, the Yankees standing on July 21 during Torre's tenure: second (7.0), second (3.5), second (1.5), first (+8.0), first (+3.0), first (+4.0), first (tied), first (+1.5), first (+5.0), first (+14.5), second (3.5), and first (+8.0).

449 NY has scored (449) runs after outscoring Oakland 13-5 in a three game sweep to start the second half of the season - but overall the offense is averaging just 4.58 runs per game, the eighth best among A.L. teams. NY has given up 417 runs - an average of 4.26 runs per game, the seventh best among A.L. teams. The number that counts - 53 wins - is only sixth best among A.L. teams.

581 Alex Rodriguez leads the club with a (.581) slugging percentage. Rodriguez, who passed Mickey Mantle on the all-time homerun list earlier this month, is tied with Jason Giambi for the team lead with 20 homeruns on the season. His slugging percentage is the second best in the league, just behind Milton Bradley, and just ahead of Kevin Youkilis - no kidding, Bradley and Youkilis apparently belong in the same company as A-Rod this year. Well, for now.

Sports by the Numbers Available Titles

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Time to start pulling for the Rays

2008-07-14T12:43:15Z

Sports by the Numbers MLB Stat of the Week

7 Yes, the Rays have lost (7) straight to fall a half game back of Boston - but if you are a Tampa fan the thing you need to keep telling yourself is that the former D-Rays are still 16 games above .500 at the All-Star break. Tampa needs to win only 15 games after the break to equal the franchise record for wins in a season - but forget about that, these guys think they can go from "worst-to-first" like the 1991 edition of the Twins and Braves.

Honorable Mentions

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9 The New York Mets head to the break riding a (9) game winning streak. The Mets were three games under .500 a month ago, but today they are a season high seven games above the .500 mark. I know some people are giving Jerry Manuel all the credit - and he does seem to have the respect of his players, which says a lot - but what are we giving him credit for? Is there anyone out there who honestly believes the Mets would have gone the rest of the season without getting hot at least once if Willie Randolph was still at the helm? If the Mets are playing in October, then we can give him all the credit in the world.

25 Ian Kinsler heads to the All-Star game with a (25) game hitting streak for the Texas Rangers - the best in the majors this season. His teammate Michael Young is working on a 15 game hitting streak of his own, and for what its worth, the Rangers as a team are just plain hot. They lost 16 of 23 games to start the season, but since then they have won 16 of 23 series - not games - actual series, and they are four games over .500 at the break.

95 Josh Hamilton has (95) RBI in 93 games. I know everyone has been talking about what an incredible story he is this year, and for good reason, but the one thing that could really make this story beyond spectacular is for the Rangers to make the post-season - and then for Hamilton to light it up in October. Think it can't happen? I don't know - the entire buzz surrounding Hamilton seems to have affected Texas in a good way, and as a team they truly believe they will start the second half of the season with a legitimate shot. I say good for them - as a baseball fan, I'm pulling for the Rays and the Rangers in the second half.

495 It wasn't that long ago that the Diamondbacks had the best record in the N.L. - but they head to the break a game under .500 at 47-48, good for a (.495) winning percentage that would be no better than third place in any other division in baseball. Arizona is, of course, still in first in the N.L. West. The Rockies have lost four straight and are 18 games under .500, and yet they are only 8.5 back of the D-Backs.

574 The Chicago White Sox lead the Central Division with a 54-40 record - good for a (.574) winning percentage at the break. Ozzie Guillen, however, makes me wonder if the White Sox success comes despite their manager rather than because of their manager. I'm sure it must be frustrating to score 11 runs and get 22 hits, only to lose the game - which is what the White Sox did on Sunday - but after listening to the comments made by Guillen after the game I felt like someone should tell him that his players actually are professionals. Here is part of what he said: "This was the worst baseball game I've ever seen. The pitchers should look themselves in the mirror and be embarrassed. That was ugly. That's the worst I've seen in a long time."

Sports by the Numbers Available Titles

Fantasy Baseball Karma

2008-07-13T21:49:27Z

You know those guys - every league has at least one or two - who will drop half their pitching staff on Saturday night and pick up practically any pitcher scheduled to start on Sunday just so they can assure victory in the strikeouts and wins categories in head-to-head fantasy leagues?

No offense if you are one of those guys, I'm only mentioning this to remind everyone that the baseball gods notice this sort of thing.

Case in point: Andrew Miller, the Florida Marlins starter against the Dodgers today.

I'm watching the game overseas via the American Forces Network - and while I normally would be aggravated about a 7-1 score in the second inning (I prefer to watch the 2-1 type ball games), I'm laughing my butt off watching the Marlins vs. Dodgers tonight.

Why?

Well, as it turns out, there is karma in fantasy baseball.

I'm going to lose my head-to-head match-up this week, mainly because my opponent used 25 different pitchers to amass a staggering number of wins and strikeouts (the other categories we pretty much split), but it won't be as bad as it could have been because one of the guys he picked up for today was Andrew Miller.

His line against the Dodgers: 1.2 IP, 5 H, 7 ER, 5 BB, 3K.

I can't do anything about losing the wins or strikeouts category - but he just handed me the ERA and WHIP.

Sports by the Numbers Available Titles

Braves Notes: Moylan not to be confused with Chipper

2008-06-21T05:11:38Z

By David Horne, Sports by the Numbers co-author

I am currently making a three week trip through Georgia and Florida promoting our MLB, NYY, and NASCAR titles just released by the Sports by the Numbers team - and as part of that trip I made a stop in Atlanta where I was able to take in the Braves vs. Mariners at Turner Field on Friday night.

I'll also be at the Rays vs. Red Sox series in a few days, and I'll be at the Daytona Speedway for the running of the Coke Zero 400 to wrap up my trip the weekend of July 4.

There were several highlights at Turner Field tonight - including the chance at a short conversation with Braves' pitching coach Roger McDowell, a presentation to Chipper Jones celebrating his 400th career homerun, and . . . the Braves unveiling a massive Chick-Fil-A cow that now leads the crowd in doing the Tomahawk Chop.

Okay, so maybe that last one wasn't exactly a highlight - but, it was mildly entertaining in a southern, cheesy sort of way.

There were two actual events from tonight's game that are worth describing here (the game was a 10-2 Mariners blowout, and so it misses the cut) - and they both involve young fans I met at the game.

I was among the first fans in the stadium, and immediately went to the Braves bullpen to see if anyone was throwing - and sure enough, Buddy Carlyle was working with pitching coach Roger McDowell.

There were only three or four other people standing above the bullpen (it was two-and-a-half hours prior to game time), and when McDowell acknowledged the fans I told him that he gave me a ball once back when I was a kid watching him in a bullpen session when he was pitching for the Mets - which is true by the way - and he laughed, then tossed a ball to the one kid standing there with his dad, and I thought that was way cool.

Just a moment later, Pete Moylan came walking into the bullpen and started talking with McDowell - and the kid who got the ball was standing there with his dad, and so his dad says to Moylan, "Hey, can you sign my kid's glove?"

Moylan said sure thing, and came over to the wall and reached up for it - so the kid, who I guess was maybe six or seven at the most, got really excited, and said to Moylan, "Are you Chipper?"

I guess Moylan misunderstood, because he replied, "Yeah, I'm a pitcher."

The kid went hysterical . . . let me tell you. He began to scream, "Chipper signed my glove! Chipper signed my glove!"

Then Moylan laughed, and said, "No, I'm a pitcher - my name's Pete."

The kid just kept screaming, "Chipper signed my glove!"

The dad apologized to Moylan, who I have to say was a good sport about it - and then he tried to explain to his son that Chipper was out on the field and was not the player who signed his glove, but I don't think the kid believed him.

Anyway, the other cool thing was sitting in the stands during the game, two brothers in front of me, who were also quite young, probably eight and ten, were actually keeping score in a scorebook - which I thought was just freaking awesome.

You don't see that much anymore - but man when my brothers and I were kids, we kept scorebooks for our whiffle ball games in the backyard, for the Braves games we listened to on the AM signal we got from Atlanta, and for every game we were lucky enough to see in person.

I swear that if math word problems in grade school had used baseball scenarios instead of those trains leaving cities at such and such time going such and such speed, we'd all have been at the top of the class.

We knew how to do math because we knew how to keep score, and we sure as heck knew how to do fractions, because that's what we used to figure our batting averages.

Anyway, I asked the kid where he learned to keep score - and he said his dad taught him. That's also way cool, and exactly as it should be.

Last of all, there was one very disturbing sight at the game tonight - I posted a video of it here.

MLB Update: Tigers are Hot, Mets and Braves Struggle

2008-06-16T20:10:38Z

Sports by the Numbers MLB Stat of the Week

6 The Detroit Tigers gave up four runs in the ninth on Sunday to the Dodgers, but held on for a 5-4 victory and a (6) game winning streak - their longest to date this season. Detroit began play on June 10 trailing the White Six by 11 games, but after winning six straight since then - including a three game sweep of the White Sox - they will begin Monday's interleague match-up against the Giants trailing Chicago by only six games. Tigers' fans should not celebrate just yet, but maybe the club is starting to come around. Manager Jim Leyland said on Sunday, "People buried us [after their horrendous start to the season] - and they should have. Now we've got a chance to get them excited again."

Honorable Mentions

387 The Chicago Cubs are 45-25 after 70 games for the best record in baseball - thanks to an offense that leads the N.L. with (387) runs and a pitching staff that leads the N.L. with a 3.61 ERA. That makes for a pretty healthy combination - but whether their offense can continue to produce with slugger Alfonso Soriano out for up to six weeks with a broken bone in his left hand remains to be seen.

486 The Atlanta Braves are 34-36 after 70 games for a (.486) winning percentage - and they enter week 13 trailing the Phillies by 6.5 games in the N.L. East. Chipper Jones still leads baseball with a .402 average and the Atlanta pitching staff is second in the N.L. with a 3.72 ERA, but the Braves have the worst numbers in the league in three critical categories for any team that wants to be a playoff contender: 1-7 record (.125 winning percentage) in extra-inning games, 3-18 record (.143 winning percentage) in one run games, and a 9-25 record (.265 winning percentage) on the road.

554 Willie Randolph has now been at the helm of the New York Mets for (554) games - including the 68 games the Mets have played this season, during which time the club has posted a 33-35 record. The odds on Willie being at the helm through the All-Star break, much less the end of the season - his fourth with the club - seems to be increasingly stacked against him. New York has lost seven of ten, and with six of their next nine games being against bad ball clubs (Colorado and Seattle), these next two weeks could go a long way towards deciding Randolph's fate.

577 J.D. Drew is up to a (.577) slugging percentage for the Boston Red Sox. He hit only four homeruns during the first two months of the season - but he has hit seven homeruns in June, including five homeruns and ten RBI in his last eight games. His increased output on offense could not have come at a better time for Boston, as David Ortiz is already out of action for at least a month, and Manny Ramirez missed two games this weekend nursing an ailing hamstring.

585 Josh Hamilton only has one homerun and five RBI in his last ten games - but his (.585) slugging percentage is still the second best in the A.L. behind his teammate Milton Bradley. Hamilton, who hit 19 homeruns in 90 games for Cincinnati last year, leads the league with 18 homeruns and 73 RBI during his first 69 games this year. Bradley, by the way, has 15 homeruns, after posting totals of 13, 14, and 13 the past three seasons.

Sports by the Numbers Available Titles

Let Coco Serve His Time In The Octagon

2008-06-08T17:16:13Z

Sports by the Numbers MLB Stat of the Week

259 Coco Crisp is batting (.259) with two homeruns this season - and depending on your perspective, you could say his seven-game suspension for charging the mound against Rays' pitcher James Shields probably helps Boston. Crisp was wrong and he knows it - and good for Shields for hitting him, too bad five Rays' players got suspended while only three Red Sox players will have to sit out a bit. Tampa's Carl Crawford got suspended four games, and his response was to say, "Our guys got caught on tape." His manager, Joe Maddon, said, "I defend everything our guys did." Good for you, Joe - keep those "Devil" free Rays battling all year if you can.

Honorable Mentions

4 The San Diego Padres became the first team in baseball history to win (4) consecutive games by a score of 2-1. Scott Hairston hit a walk-off homerun in the tenth inning on Saturday night to beat the New York Mets, leading catcher Michael Barrett to say, "We are on an unbelievable roll." Well, sort of, they have won four in a row and seven out of ten - and now they are only eight games out of first place with only the third worst record in the league.

5 Joe Crede hit (5) homeruns in three games this past week. The White Sox third baseman hit one on Wednesday, two on Friday, and two on Saturday - which is pretty impressive, but when I went online first thing this morning to check the box scores on mlb.com the first thing I saw was a headline that said, "Joltin' Joe hammers Twins." Now, come on - as impressive as his offensive numbers were this past week, referring to him as "Joltin' Joe" is truly offensive. He isn't wearing pinstripes, he isn't playing in the Bronx, and - no offense Joe - he isn't DiMaggio.

6 First the good news for Yankees fans - Johnny Damon did in fact get (6) hits on Saturday, including the game-winner against his old club as the Yankees rallied past the Royals for a 12-11 victory. Damon tied a club and league record by getting six hits in a nine-inning game. Now the bad news - Andy Pettitte gave up ten earned runs in six plus innings of work. Pettitte has won only twice in his last nine starts, while his ERA has soared from 2.45 to 4.99 during that stretch.

346 The Chicago Cubs scored (346) runs during their first 61 games - the highest total in the majors - but that rather large number apparently meant nothing on Friday to Dodgers' starter Hiroki Kuroda, who posted these rather tidy numbers in a 3-0 victory over Chicago: 9 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 11 Ks.

400 Chipper Jones hit career homerun number (400) on Thursday against the Florida Marlins. He became just the third switch-hitter in history to reach that plateau, and when asked about belonging to a group that includes Hall of Fame legends Mickey Mantle and Eddie Murray as the only other members, Chipper said, "To be lumped in with those guys is what I'm shooting for. This is a step closer but still a long, long way from those guys - they set the bar really high."

Sports by the Numbers Available Titles

Oh, Manny! Welcome to Cooperstown

2008-06-02T15:59:57Z

Manny Ramirez Career Retrospective

By David Horne, Sports by the Numbers co-author
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Manny finally got the milestone, and he wasted no time getting 501 - as he hit another bomb on Sunday, the day after he became only the twenty-fourth member of the 500-homerun club.

In his last 34 games prior to Saturday's historic big fly he had hit only three homeruns, so the milestone took some time in coming - but it was worth the wait. Manny said, "Every time you get to the hotel, people say, hey, when you gonna hit it? I'm just happy everything's done for now - I can go be myself and have fun."

Manny has been doing exactly that - being true to who he is as a person and a ballplayer - for a very long time, and having fun doing it. Now his numbers have fully cemented his place in Cooperstown - take a look at his career using Sports by the Numbers.

2 It only takes one - but Manny has (2) World Series titles. He lost his first Fall Classic in 1995, lost his second in 1997, but won with Boston in historic fashion in 2004, and then again in 2007.

3 There have been (3) players to reach the 500-homerun plateau in a Red Sox uniform: Jimmie Foxx (1940), Ted Williams (1960), and now Ramirez.

4 He has played in (4) World Series - and hit (4) World Series homeruns. Manny also holds the post-season record for career homeruns with 24.

5 There are (5) active players who belong to the 500-homerun club: Ken Griffey, Jr. (599), Alex Rodriguez (525), Frank Thomas (520), Jim Thome (517), and Manny (501).

7 Only (7) members of the 500-homerun club can boast 1,500 RBI, 1,000 walks, 475 doubles, and a .300 average: Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Frank Thomas, Mel Ott, and Manny.

9 He has (9) career homeruns against Mike Mussina - his highest total against a right-handed pitcher.

10 He has (10) career homeruns against Jamie Moyer - his highest total against any pitcher, right or left-handed.

11 Manny is an (11)-time All-Star who has hit 30 or more homeruns in (11) different seasons.

24 Manny is now a member of an exclusive club - only (24) members. Next on the list are Eddie Murray (504), Mel Ott (511), and Eddie Mathews and Ernie Banks (512) - which means Manny should be among the top 20 homerun hitters in baseball history by season's end.

36 Manny just turned 36 years old - and of the 24 members of the 500-homerun club, he reached it the eighth fastest. It took him only 7,263 at bats.

43 He hit (43) homeruns in 2004 and beat out teammate David Ortiz by two for the only homerun title of his career.

45 Twice he hit a career high (45) homeruns - in 1998 for Cleveland, and in 2005 for Boston.

81 His historic homerun came on the first pitch of his at bat - something he has now done (81) times in his career. He has more first pitch homeruns than he does on any other count.

236 Manny hit (236) long balls as a member of the Cleveland Indians - the third highest total in franchise history behind Jim Thome (334) and Albert Belle (242).

265 Manny hit number 501 on Sunday - giving him (265) big flies as a member of the Boston Red Sox. Only Ted Williams (521), Carl Yastrzemski (452), Jim Rice (382), and Dwight Evans (379) have more.

312 He currently boasts a (.312) career batting average - only Ted Williams, Babe Ruth, and Jimmie Foxx, among members of the 500-homerun club, closed out their careers with a higher average.

349 Manny won the 2002 batting title when he hit (.349) - and he has posted ten seasons of .300 or better.

351 He hit a career high (.351) in 2000 - but placed third in the batting title race behind teammate Nomar Garciaparra and Angels outfielder Darin Erstad.

412 Manny hit (.412) during the 2004 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals - hit one big fly - and got his first ring, along with the hardware for World Series MVP.

697 His career high slugging percentage is (.697) - a mark he set in 2000, his last season with the Indians. His career slugging percentage is .590, one of the top ten in baseball history.

Oh, Manny - what a career. See you in Cooperstown.

Sports by the Numbers Available Titles

Joba Is On The Way

2008-06-01T18:30:20Z

Sports by the Numbers NYY Stat of the Week

607 The best winning percentage (.607) in the A.L. belongs to the team leading the East - no surprise there - but at 34-22, the Rays need one more win to get half their 2004 total when they won a franchise best 70 games. Yes, Yankee fans - the calendar now says June, and your club is 5.5 games back of a team that has never won more than 70 games in a season.

Honorable Mentions

3 Joe Girardi has finally decided to give Joba Chamberlain the ball to start a game, thanks to some vocal prodding from Hank Steinbrenner. Joba has tossed five-plus innings of scoreless relief in his last (3) appearances as he prepares for his first start of the season this Tuesday. In his last three stints, Joba has given up only three hits, while striking out eight batters - and when asked about his first start, he said, "You're still going to see the same person - I feel great."

8 Mike Mussina leads the team with (8) victories on the mound - having won seven of his last eight starts. He has also given up two earned runs or fewer in five of those seven wins.

249 The NYY offense has scored (249) runs - only the sixth highest total out of 14 teams in the league - but the pitching staff has given up 252 runs, the ninth highest total in the league. Not good, Joe - not good, at all.

411 Andy Pettitte now leads the team with a (4.11) ERA - about all we can say is, that's not good either, Joe, not if your team leader is statistically no different than the league average.
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486 Bobby Abreu is hitting .298 with seven homeruns - good for a (.486) slugging percentage - and he is the team leader with 36 RBI through two full months of the season. Abreu got the game-winning hit for the Yankees on Saturday as the club won in extra-innings at Minnesota. It was the third straight win for New York, and the eighth win in ten games - so maybe things are looking up for the Bronx Bombers.

Sports by the Numbers Available Titles