Giants in Position for Wild-Card Slot Despite Significant Slide
August 18, 2014 by Alan Reifman · Leave a Comment
As of Monday afternoon, August 18, the San Francisco Giants hold the second National League wild-card slot, leading the next-closest teams by 1.5 games. What I find most interesting is that the Giants are still on pace to make the playoffs, despite potentially one of the sharpest within-season declines after a strong start, in the […]
What’s Behind the Texas Rangers’ Pre All-Star Break Collapse?
July 20, 2014 by Alan Reifman · Leave a Comment
Since 2010, the Texas Rangers have never been far from the playoffs – until now. The Rangers made the World Series in 2010 and 2011, reached the one-game Wild Card round in 2012, and then lost a one-game tie-breaker playoff in 2013 to get into the Wild Card round. Barring a miracle comeback this season, […]
Which College World Series Teams Play Moneyball the Best?
June 12, 2014 by Alan Reifman · Leave a Comment
Nearly all discussion of the Moneyball/sabermetrics revolution in baseball has centered on MLB. As part of this revolution, teams such as the Boston Red Sox and Oakland A’s have enjoyed success over roughly the past decade with data-based approaches to the game that emphasize certain principles. These principles include getting on base (with walks being […]
Scalding 50-Game Stretches in MLB History and How Teams Did Immediately Before and After
November 26, 2013 by Alan Reifman · 2 Comments
The story of the 2013 L.A. Dodgers is well known. After starting off with a 30-42 record, which left them last in the National League West on June 21 (9.5 games behind first-place Arizona), the Dodgers caught fire. From June 22-August 17, L.A. put together the best 50-game stretch in 71 years – 42 wins […]
