Brooms in Missouri

Swept by the Royals... is it really just over a year ago that we were making fun of the pinstriped 9 for their 3 losses in Kansas City, MO? (and as an early aside, did anyone living outside of Missouri know that the Southwest MO region is "America's new live entertainment capital"?)

Let's look at a little objective evidence from the AL as we scream at Theo for not getting pitching help at the trading deadline..

Date: 08/08
Teams Scoring 4 runs (or less): 6
Teams scoring 4 runs (or less) who won: 1

Date 08/09
Teams Scoring 4 runs (or less): 10
Teams scoring 4 runs (or less) who won: 4

Date 08/09
Teams Scoring 4 runs (or less): 4 (but potentially 5)
Teams scoring 4 runs (or less) who won: 0

So teams that score 4 runs or less, have a .250 winning percentage*... or roughly the winning percentage of the Kansas City Royals!

I have to admit a little negative thought entered my brain when I was thinking about this game. I thought that Curt, fresh from his "we each have to step up in the breach" speech, which was only missing references to beaches, streets and fields for the full effect, might stay in the game just a little too long to prove he was the guy for the job...

and guess what... he did, but it still comes back to the fact - we have to score more than 4 runs a game against a team that has allowed 40 more runs this season than any other team in baseball, which translates to a team ERA 43 points higher than the frightning rotation of the Baltimore staff...

nothing about that last paragraph makes nice reading...

So we head back to Fenway with tails firmly between legs, but the last AL East team that was swept in KC^ went on to win (cough, cough) the AL East last year - let's all hope for a repeat!

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* If my Econometrics professor is reading this, I apologize, I am trying to make a point, I will write out 100 lines about faulty methodologies...

^ And if anyone reading this thinks that I actually checked to make sure that none of the other AL East teams had been swept in KC since the Yankees last year...

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I will not abuse my Wilcoxon Matched Pairs Signed Ranks Test...
I will not abuse my Wilcoxon Matched Pairs Signed Ranks Test...
I will not abuse my Wilcoxon Matched Pairs Signed Ranks Test...
I will not abuse my Wilcoxon Matched Pairs Signed Ranks Test...
I will not abuse my Wilcoxon Matched Pairs Signed Ranks Test...

oh come on, give me a break, the Sox just got swept, I abused a statistical test for comedy purposes... I know it isn't relevant...