115
Surprisingly, the Surprising Indians lost yesterday, reducing the Magic Number for the idle White Sox to 115 and the Tribe’s lead over the Good Guys to 8.0 games. The Sox are actually two games ahead of their record last year, but that was before they go super-hot. It’ll be hard to duplicate the feat of winning 25 out of 30 games, but it’ll be a ton of fun if it happens. Tonight is a good time to start winning against our own division, as the Tigers – the team I actually worry about the most now that the Twins have the worst record in baseball – invade the Cell.
Since there’s no game to talk about, let’s take a look at some stats. Specifically, I was wondering how much small ball – regular readers know I’m not a fan – Ozzie is playing this year.
To do that, let’s start with stolen base attempts. The Sox have tried to swipe a base 51 times this season, which is a bit shy of the league average of 54. But there are eight teams with more attempts, led by Toronto and Texas with 71. Even Oakland, which was profiled in the book Moneyball as disdaining the stolen base, is ahead of the South Siders with 54 tries. On the other hand, of the five teams with fewer attempts, three of them are in the Central Division. Cleveland has 42 tries, while Detroit and Minnesota have 29 each.
But maybe it’s a good thing that Ozzie is running the boys more often since the Sox already lead the league in being caught stealing. Their total of 25 far exceeds the league average of 15. Math majors among you will already have figured out that the Pale Hose have successfully stolen 26 bases, which lands them in 11th place in the A.L. and well below the league average of 39.
What about sacrifice bunts? Well, there the Sox rank a little higher. Their total of 20 puts them second in the league behind Detroit, and significantly ahead of the average of 14 sacrifice hits. So what does all that mean? I’ll leave it to you to decide, but as yesterday’s post demonstrated, we’re not winning much unless we get double-digit hits.
I’m sure some of you are thinking, what about home runs? The answer is that the Sox have hit 56, which places them above the league average of 51. I expect that ranking to improve considerably. First, the team has played a disproportionate number of games away from the Cell, a noted home run haven. Second, the weather is finally starting to warm up, which is more of a factor to a Chicago team than say a Texas or Anaheim team. Third, two of the Sox with good to very good home run totals last year are mired in horrible slumps. Adam Dunn has got to break out of this sooner or later; he’s been too consistent a home run hitter over too many years not to start pounding the ball better. Alex Rios, while not blessed with Dunn’s power, is certainly better than he’s shown so far. Watch out for the Sox when those two guys get hot.
Finally, here are some random stats to chew on: The Sox are first in the league in being hit by a pitch by a big margin over the next team; second in plate appearances and at bats; surprisingly, fourth in hits; and dead last in intentional walks. Go figure. Go Sox!
Surprisingly, the Surprising Indians lost yesterday, reducing the Magic Number for the idle White Sox to 115 and the Tribe’s lead over the Good Guys to 8.0 games. The Sox are actually two games ahead of their record last year, but that was before they go super-hot. It’ll be hard to duplicate the feat of winning 25 out of 30 games, but it’ll be a ton of fun if it happens. Tonight is a good time to start winning against our own division, as the Tigers – the team I actually worry about the most now that the Twins have the worst record in baseball – invade the Cell.
Since there’s no game to talk about, let’s take a look at some stats. Specifically, I was wondering how much small ball – regular readers know I’m not a fan – Ozzie is playing this year.
To do that, let’s start with stolen base attempts. The Sox have tried to swipe a base 51 times this season, which is a bit shy of the league average of 54. But there are eight teams with more attempts, led by Toronto and Texas with 71. Even Oakland, which was profiled in the book Moneyball as disdaining the stolen base, is ahead of the South Siders with 54 tries. On the other hand, of the five teams with fewer attempts, three of them are in the Central Division. Cleveland has 42 tries, while Detroit and Minnesota have 29 each.
But maybe it’s a good thing that Ozzie is running the boys more often since the Sox already lead the league in being caught stealing. Their total of 25 far exceeds the league average of 15. Math majors among you will already have figured out that the Pale Hose have successfully stolen 26 bases, which lands them in 11th place in the A.L. and well below the league average of 39.
What about sacrifice bunts? Well, there the Sox rank a little higher. Their total of 20 puts them second in the league behind Detroit, and significantly ahead of the average of 14 sacrifice hits. So what does all that mean? I’ll leave it to you to decide, but as yesterday’s post demonstrated, we’re not winning much unless we get double-digit hits.
I’m sure some of you are thinking, what about home runs? The answer is that the Sox have hit 56, which places them above the league average of 51. I expect that ranking to improve considerably. First, the team has played a disproportionate number of games away from the Cell, a noted home run haven. Second, the weather is finally starting to warm up, which is more of a factor to a Chicago team than say a Texas or Anaheim team. Third, two of the Sox with good to very good home run totals last year are mired in horrible slumps. Adam Dunn has got to break out of this sooner or later; he’s been too consistent a home run hitter over too many years not to start pounding the ball better. Alex Rios, while not blessed with Dunn’s power, is certainly better than he’s shown so far. Watch out for the Sox when those two guys get hot.
Finally, here are some random stats to chew on: The Sox are first in the league in being hit by a pitch by a big margin over the next team; second in plate appearances and at bats; surprisingly, fourth in hits; and dead last in intentional walks. Go figure. Go Sox!
posted by Sherm Lollar at 8:44 AM
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