** Magic Number **

[hoosiers]

This will be the most fun or the biggest jinx seen on this site in a long time.

[flashjordnk]

Wild card magic numbers are a bit too complicated for me this far out. Especially with close races in the Central and West where you don't know who's going to win the division and who's going to be left fighting for a wild card. I'm sure it can be done but it's simpler to do division magic numbers which is what we're all after anyway.

Isn't magic number math really easy? Current wins plus current losses of team you need to stay ahead of subtracted from 163? In order to stay ahead of Seattle, our number would be:

39

It's only complicated if said team starts to loose so much that they are no longer the team you use the loss number of but you just switch teams and either way the number would just hold steady even if say Seattle lost the next 5 and the Jays didn't lose in that stretch but the number can never go up from the 39 it is right now.

[Can_of_corn]

Isn't magic number math really easy? Current wins plus current losses of team you need to stay ahead of subtracted from 163? In order to stay ahead of Seattle, our number would be:

39

It's only complicated if said team starts to loose so much that they are no longer the team you use the loss number of but you just switch teams and either way the number would just hold steady even if say Seattle lost the next 5 and the Jays didn't lose in that stretch but the number can never go up from the 39 it is right now.

When the division number is lower then the WC number I say we just stick with the divisional title.

[malkusm]

Isn't magic number math really easy? Current wins plus current losses of team you need to stay ahead of subtracted from 163? In order to stay ahead of Seattle, our number would be:

39

It's only complicated if said team starts to loose so much that they are no longer the team you use the loss number of but you just switch teams and either way the number would just hold steady even if say Seattle lost the next 5 and the Jays didn't lose in that stretch but the number can never go up from the 39 it is right now.

You have to take the maximum of the magic number against every team you are competing against - that is the "magic number" that matters for the team in the lead.

CBS' standings page has this number next to each trailing team: http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/standings

36 is our number with the Yankees (higher than the Jays' 35, since the Yankees have played fewer games, and therefore have more opportunities to gain ground).

We are 4 games better than Detroit, and their magic number is 43 (over Seattle), so I believe our number would be 39 currently for the Wild Card.

EDIT: Really the magic number is only useful in comparing 2 teams (e.g. "combination of 36 O's wins + Yankees losses = Yankees eliminated"), the number really doesn't mean anything since the Jays could play .900 baseball or something during that span.

[hutchead]

Isn't magic number math really easy? Current wins plus current losses of team you need to stay ahead of subtracted from 163? In order to stay ahead of Seattle, our number would be:

39

It's only complicated if said team starts to loose so much that they are no longer the team you use the loss number of but you just switch teams and either way the number would just hold steady even if say Seattle lost the next 5 and the Jays didn't lose in that stretch but the number can never go up from the 39 it is right now.

It's more than just Seattle going on a losing streak. It's a combination of Seattle, California, Oakland, Kansas City, and Detroit swapping positions and other possible teams getting hot and joining the fray. Plus, with the division number lower than the wild card number, it just makes more sense to me to focus on the AL East number which is our goal anyway.

[hutchead]

EDIT: Really the magic number is only useful in comparing 2 teams (e.g. "combination of 36 O's wins + Yankees losses = Yankees eliminated"), the number really doesn't mean anything since the Jays could play .900 baseball or something during that span.

36 is the Baltimore Orioles magic number, regardless of opponent. If the Orioles win 36 more games, nobody in the division can catch them so it wouldn't matter if the Jays played .900 baseball or 1.000 baseball.

[Eutaw]

Cheers ?

[Bahama O's Fan]

36 is the Baltimore Orioles magic number, regardless of opponent. If the Orioles win 36 more games, nobody in the division can catch them so it wouldn't matter if the Jays played .900 baseball or 1.000 baseball.

Okay, let's do this. 36-7 here we come.

[malkusm]

36 is the Baltimore Orioles magic number, regardless of opponent. If the Orioles win 36 more games, nobody in the division can catch them so it wouldn't matter if the Jays played .900 baseball or 1.000 baseball.

Right but magic number also contemplates opponent losses. The O's magic number at the beginning of the year is not 162, since 81 O's wins + 81 ______ losses = tie. The number is 163. And last I checked, it isn't possible to win 163 games.

[malkusm]

That said, I'm all for the "go 36-7 the rest of the way" idea

[hutchead]

That said, I'm all for the "go 36-7 the rest of the way" idea

That works for me.:2yay-thumb:

[csgordos]

I was going to wait until Sept. 1 like I did in 2012 to start the same thread. If I have time later tonight I will do it for all AL and we can all update it daily.

[Bahama O's Fan]

Right but magic number also contemplates opponent losses. The O's magic number at the beginning of the year is not 162, since 81 O's wins + 81 ______ losses = tie. The number is 163. And last I checked, it isn't possible to win 163 games.

It is only after you get a lead, that magic numbers can come into play.

[blid]

Haha, I remember a time when fun-hating posters used to give OFFNY grief for his coloring, now it's an OH tradition!

[Can_of_corn]

Haha, I remember a time when fun-hating posters used to give OFFNY grief for his coloring, now it's an OH tradition!

Still think he should use the Tides' colors when posting about them.