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!
