by Warren Bull
There is no hope for the Kansas
City Royals. I wrote about them
giving second chances. I wrote
about the John Jordan “Buck” O’Neil memorial seat in the ballpark. It was of no
avail. With slightly more than
half the season to play, late last night in the thirteenth inning, they won a
game. Please note the
thirteen. By winning the game they
had their 72nd win of the season on August 18th. Baseball Prospectus using PECOTA,
computer based analysis, predicted before the season the Royals would win 72
times in the entire season and lose 90 games. So the team should lose every
game from August 18th until the end of the season. Projections are
based on the individual players’ numbers for the past season.
Reportedly Sam Miller, editor-in-chief
at Baseball Prospectus sent an email to the Kansas
City Star saying in part that the number crunching has a “blind spot” for
managers who use their bullpen well.
He added that the system probably does not account for “great defenses,
which the Royals have” and “any team that outperforms their raw stats…”
Because of a rain delay the Royals
game started late and continued well past my bedtime. Oh, my. I see
the Royals won their 73rd game last night.
As Roseannadanna on Saturday Night Live used to say never mind.
And to the baseball pundits who
described last year’s achievements as a “fluke.” You got the fluke part right but
you missed the rest of the whale.
PS: I did not plan for this blog to come one day after the Royals became Central Division champions, it just worked out that way. Go Royals!
PS: I did not plan for this blog to come one day after the Royals became Central Division champions, it just worked out that way. Go Royals!
Serendipity. Congrats to the Royals!
ReplyDeleteIt's so crazy about baseball. At the first of the season, some teams are so good, then sink to horrid and vice versa. Look at the Rangers who may very well win their division. Crazy!
ReplyDeleteThey always underestimate the Royals, Warren. It's funny. Last year when the royals went to the World Series, my agent was here in KC, giving some talks, and I was shepherding her around the city and, well, showing off. She got so excited about the Royals that she stayed up one night late at the hotel watching a game and missed her wake-up call for an early-morning event. She wasn't ready when I came to pick her up, and while she rushed around, she rhapsodized about the Royals. Even dyed-in-the-wwol New Yorkers can fall for the team. Of course, it didn't hurt that she fell in a big way for Kansas City itself.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid, baseball was the sport. My dad chastised Kansas City (then the Athletics) calling them still the Yankees number one farm team. As they were before the Philadelphia team moved there.
ReplyDeleteSeems like every time the Yankees needed to plug a hole in their lineup they made a deal with Kansas City. But, that is ancient history. I believe it is between the Royals and the Blue Jays, am looking forward to watching it.
BTW, the Athletics beat my beloved Detroit Tigers 8-2 in their major league debut.
That's why I love baseball, it has history.