Just thought I'd share this...

[CubinNY]

In anticipation of our cross country move in a few weeks I was putting away some old books and got sidetracked (as I often do) and started re-reading Baseball Dynasties by Rob Neyer and Eddie Epstein (2000).

 

In the introduction I came across this gem:

What do we look for in a great team? First, let's discard the popular myth that holds that the truly good teams are the ones that win the close games. That's complete Bull[you know the rest]. Since 1900, teams playing .600 or better in a season have an agregate winning percentage of .633. What was their winning percentage in one-run games? The myth would say higher that .633; the truth is .580.. In games decided by four our more runs, this same group of teams has a winning percentage of .686. Truly great teams win their fair share of close games, sure, but what they really do is blow away their competition.

[Tracer Bullet]

In anticipation of our cross country move in a few weeks I was putting away some old books and got sidetracked (as I often do) and started re-reading Baseball Dynasties by Rob Neyer and Eddie Epstein (2000).

 

In the introduction I came across this gem:

What do we look for in a great team? First, let's discard the popular myth that holds that the truly good teams are the ones that win the close games. That's complete Bull[you know the rest]. Since 1900, teams playing .600 or better in a season have an agregate winning percentage of .633. What was their winning percentage in one-run games? The myth would say higher that .633; the truth is .580.. In games decided by four our more runs, this same group of teams has a winning percentage of .686. Truly great teams win their fair share of close games, sure, but what they really do is blow away their competition.

 

That makes pretty good sense.

[ConstableRabbit]

That myth probably originated because close games are really exciting when won, and really hard to swallow when lost, so people remember them

[goonys evil twin]

That myth probably originated because close games are really exciting when won, and really hard to swallow when lost, so people remember them

 

And because a team that wins a lot of games is going to win a lot of 1 run games (and a lot of 2 run games and 3 run games and 4 runs games.....).

 

In addition, people like to over romanticize baseball victories. It's not enough to say Team A was better than Team B, they have to talk about heart, grit, destiny, clutch and doing the little things. A 1 run game can highlight a lot of what people interpret as those things.