Fun With Baseball: Franchise Postseason Stats Since 2000

Here's a breakdown of every MLB franchise's record and games played in the post season since 2000 (entering the World Series):

Teams Games Team Wins Team Win % 1 NYY 116 1 NYY 62 1 Mia 0.647059 2 StL 106 2 StL 58 2 CWS 0.631579 3 Bos 67 3 Bos 41 3 Bos 0.61194 4 SF 56 4 SF 34 4 SF 0.607143 5 Det 48 5 Phil 27 5 Phil 0.586957 6 Phil 46 6 Det 25 6 NYM 0.583333 7 LAA 45 7 LAA 21 7 StL 0.54717 8 Atl 39 8 Tex 18 8 NYY 0.534483 9 Oak 37 9 Ariz 16 9 Col 0.533333 10 Tex 34 10 Oak 15 10 Tex 0.529412 11 LAD 33 11 LAD 14 11 Det 0.520833 12 Ariz 32 12 NYM 14 12 Ariz 0.5 13 TB 30 13 Atl 13 13 Pitt 0.5 14 Hou 29 14 TB 13 14 Balt 0.5 15 Min 27 15 Hou 13 15 Sea 0.473684 16 NYM 24 16 CWS 12 16 Cle 0.470588 17 CWS 19 17 Mia 11 17 LAA 0.466667 18 Sea 19 18 Sea 9 18 Hou 0.448276 19 CHC 18 19 Cle 8 19 TB 0.433333 20 Cle 17 20 Col 8 20 LAD 0.424242 21 Mia 17 21 Min 6 21 Oak 0.405405 22 Mil 15 22 CHC 6 22 Mil 0.4 23 Col 15 23 Mil 6 23 Wash 0.4 24 Cin 9 24 Pitt 3 24 Atl 0.333333 25 SD 7 25 Balt 3 25 CHC 0.333333 26 Pitt 6 26 Cin 2 26 Min 0.222222 27 Balt 6 27 Wash 2 27 Cin 0.222222 28 Wash 5 28 SD 1 28 SD 0.142857 29 KC 0 29 KC 0 29 KC N/A 30 Tor 0 30 Tor 0 30 Tor N/A

(Miami stats include time as Florida Marlins)

(Washington stats include time as Montreal Expos)

Fun Notes:

• Florida Marlins are the only team to win a World Series in this time period and have that be the franchise's only postseason wins/appearance. They had 100% of their postseason wins and games in this time period come in 2003, when they won the World Series. 
• If you include the one game playoff in 2012 as a series, Atlanta has lost 9 of its 10 postseason series.
• Detroit has the most playoff wins w/o a World Series title in this time period (25).
• Three teams have more WINS in postseason play than the Cubs and White Sox do TOTAL GAMES...COMBINED in this time frame.
• In its seven ALDS appearances from 2000-2013, Oakland lost in a deciding 5th game in six of them.

Stink of the Sox: How Getting Clubbed by Cubs Shouldn't Be A Surprise (and Why I Expect Further Stink)

Entering the 2013 season, I had lower fan expectations than most when it came to the Chicago White Sox, who I believed overachieved greatly last season in holding first place in the AL Central for most of the second half of the season before being edged out by the eventual pennant winners Detroit Tigers.

My prediction of 76-86 was based on my questions with guys who had tough shoes to fill (Flowers replacing Pierzynski), who strike out too much for how little they get on base (Viciedo, Alexi), guys who would have a difficult time duplicating previous seasons (Sale, Peavy), and guys who would likely tail off at some point (Konerko).

I have been wrong so far about my pre-season assessment of Sale and Peavy, but otherwise most of my suspicions for a tail-off this season have been proved true, especially in their latest series versus their National League counterparts about 10 miles north.

The White Sox hitters have been beyond putrid this season. Check out some of these team stats entering Thursday's game (their third loss to the Cubs), accompanied by their AL rank (out of 15 teams). And remember that the Astros (one of the worst teams in the majors) are now in this league:

• .240 batting average (13th)
• .293 on-base percentage (15th)
• .379 slugging (13th)
• .672 OBP (15th)
• 126 extra base hits (15th)
• 121 walks (15th)

Trying to find a good stat from White Sox hitters is like trying to find Where's Waldo as a kid when the pages weren't pre-circled. If it wasn't for the stellar pitching of Sale & Peavy, this team would be much much worse than their 24-27 record indicates. It's actually quite surprising that they've even gotten this many wins.

On the other side of town...the Cubs have actually showed some promise, more than most people were expecting.

Here are the Cubs stats in the same categories entering play on Thursday:

• .248 batting average (8th - a higher average even though pitchers have to hit in NL)
• .302 on-base percentage (12th - one of the things really holding this offense back from being even better)
• .411 slugging (3rd)
• .713 OBP (8th)
• 172 extra base hits (1st in NL, 4th in the majors). 
• 118 walks (15th)

Most of these stats are not too shabby, especially for a team that sports a 22-30 record. Strange thing about their record is their runs for vs. runs allowed (Cubs have plated 214 runs to their opponents 208, including Thursday). These are stats that I like to use to see what teams might have deceiving records at a certain point in the year (I like to start taking stats/trends seriously around the 35-40 game mark). This contrasts the Sox luck of scoring only 183 runs while allowing 212.

Yes, at the end of the year, the record is what tells the story, especially of who is playing in the postseason and who is joining Terrell Owens and just eating popcorn in October. And by the time this season ends, I believe it will be the Cubs who will have bragging rights (at least with win totals) over their South Side brethren. 

With one game left in their season series with the South Siders on a yet-to-be-determined date, the Cubs clinched the Crosstown Cup with their win Thursday. Whenever their next game might be, I believe we will be looking at a North Side team that will have overtaken the White Sox in wins.

Dating Myself

Ever since I was about 4 or 5 years old and starting my life-long love of sports statistics, I have been a man skilled in remembering many numbers and dates. Nevermind the uselessness of 98% of them. Does anyone really need to know every single World Series, Super Bowl & NBA Finals since he was a kid? (Now that I've mentioned this, I almost expect to get called out on this and to fail at the task).

As far as recent and upcoming dates go, there's several dates that I'll never forget. For most people, unless it's your birthday or anniversary, most dates don't mean much. March 20th was the 6 month mark of when an amazing relationship started in my life. April 1st is the 6th month mark of when one ended.

Of course, that date will mark 6 months since we put the old pup Buddy down. It's hard to believe that 6 months has passed since then. I'd say getting through this time has been made easier with the relationship I started just 10 days before that. Every now and then, I'll go by his container of ashes and dog collar and think about all the good times me and the old man had. I'll hold the collar up to our other dog Pixie, who will sniff and lick the collar as if it were his ears, per her usual daily tradition of cleaning them.

Also coming up next month is another tragic anniversary: the passing of my Grandma Bolek last April 27th. Again, like Buddy, doesn't feel like it's been that long since it happened...but such is the story of life, especially as we get older. I haven't visited the cemetary since the day of the funeral, so I think a trip up there will be in order soon. Also, I need to round up the Bolek troops again to try hanging out a little more - need to honor the memory of Grandma a little more.

With the bad dates in life, there's a balance of good to look forward to. June 30th will be my brother's bachelor party (with the concept of whirlyball, casino and a party bus the working idea so far - need to get this set pronto), followed by his wedding to his beautiful fiance Amber on July 7th, a date that may have Amber wondering if she should keep her last name instead of inheriting ours. I am honored to be the Best Man for the wedding and hope that I can create a good speech and a good time at the party the week before.

Also, for those who don't know, in between that time is July 1st, a date that will mark a milestone for this 29 year old. I will have officially moved out of my parent's house for the first time since I was in school at U of I in Champaign! Time to take off the diapers and put on some boxers (and have the girlfriend clean them....kidding Jen- kinda). I'm looking forward to seeing what the city has to offer while moving in with a g/f for the first time ever. Right now, looking to move to the South Loop area. It will be a good lesson in money management and other aspects of life as I learn to adjust to a different setting. Great thing about my current job is that all I need is Internet and a phone and I can work anywhere. Point - me.

There's some other dates coming up to look forward to, but the ones above are the ones clearest in mind. It's a fitting time to mention dates and numbers as the baseball season approaches, for it was baseball where I learned a lot about how to compute numbers in my head with ease. Consider it a blessing and a curse for being a Mathlete.

I'm sure I'll have more dates pop up on my radar as significant dates as the year passes on. For now, I am looking forward to most of these (everything aside from the death anniversaries) to see what the future will hold as 2012 progresses.

QB or not QB: The Cynical Views of a 49ers Fan

Not much since the Jeff Garcia era has gone right for the San Francisco 49ers - from the numerous coaching changes to the botched QB decisions. No matter how you dice it, as a #1 pick, Alex Smith has failed to become the franchise guy that any team who drafts a QB with the top selection should expect. Yet....for some reason, the Niners/Harbaugh want to bring the model of inconsistency back into the fold for next year. I guess it makes some sense, given the lack of practice time that any new QB, including Colin Kaepernick, would have due to the lockout.

On the bright side (and the only bright side) I can find about bringing Smith back is that he finally may have a competent offensive mind to work with. Harbaugh had a big hand in developing Andrew Luck into the future 2012 #1 pick (barring injury) and also putting Stanford football on the map in a very short amount of time, capping off his last season with the Cardinal in a very impressive romping of V-Tech.

With the drafting of a new QB, you'd think I'd be happier, given the impending end of the Alex Smith era and the hope of success with the young guy. However, Kaepernick enters the NFL on similar terms as Smith did: both men played on offenses in college that make for a difficult transition into the pro game. Smith played under the tutelage of Urban Meyer while Meyer was still an up-and-coming coach for Utah. Meyer emphasized the "spread offense", which usually uses 4-5 receiver sets to space out defenders and give the offense more room to run and pass. In college systems like this, the QB used is often quick and usually has an option to run or pass. Here are Smith's statistics in his junior year, after which he declared for the NFL draft:

• 32 TDs, 4 Ints in 317 attempts for 2952 yards, completing over two-thirds of his passes in the process
• 135 attempts for 631 yards (deceiving because in college, they count sacks as negative rushing yards), 10 TDs rushing

Comparably, Kaepernick just finished his college stint at Nevada playing in the Pistol formation, which is almost a merger of the shotgun and the I formation, except it's just 1 running back behind the QB as he stands in shotgun. Like Smith, Kaepernick's system emphasized the option as a big part of its offense, resulting in some well-rounded Smith-like stats for CK's senior year campaign:

• 22 TDs, 8 picks in 359 passes for 3022 yards, completing about 65% of his passes
• 173 attempts for 1206 yards (7 yards/carry) for 20 TDs

In each man's last seasons, both contributed exactly 42 TDs (roughly 3.5 per game), with Smith having the edge in passing efficiency and Kaepernick literally running away with the rushing title between the two. Both men had similar yardage and completion totals. Both men also took great advantage of the systems that allowed them to put up the stats that they did.

However, it remains to be seen whether Kaepernick will fall prey to the system QB problem that Smith had. Lining up under center is a lot different than in an option-based shotgun formation, which could never work in the NFL due to the speed of the game. I do think that both quarterbacks will benefit from having a former QB coaching them.

If neither can succeed with this guy as coach, then forget about it. Personally, the inevitable signing of Alex Smith is puzzling, but since it is inevitable, I'd like to see both the new coach and the motivation of a draft pick to light a fire under his ass to give Smith a decent chance at improvement.

Time will tell, and hopefully time will allow this to play out as scheduled. I wish whatever QB plays this year the best, and hopefully the best results in our first division championship since Mooch was coach.