Magic Number
The Toronto Blue Jays’ magic number to clinch a wild
card spot is 17.
The Kansas City Royals’ magic
number to clinch the AL Central is 13.
To me the term “magic number” is
synonymous with September baseball. You don’t hear the term as much these days
as baseball writers and internet sites prefer to use the term “elimination
number.” I’m an old school kind of guy so I will use the old term. It sounds
more positive.
Now, just in case anyone out
there doesn’t know what a magic number is, here’s a quick overview. When I say
the Jays’ number is 17, here’s how I come up with that number. Right now the
Minnesota Twins are in third place in the Wild Card race, which means they’re
the first team on the outside, looking in. A magic number is determined by
taking the remaining games to be played of the team ahead in the standings,
adding one, then subtracting the difference between the two teams in the loss
column.
Toronto has 23 games remaining. Adding
one brings the number to 24. The Jays have 60 losses while the Twins have 67, a
difference of 7. When that number is taken from 24, you have 17. Therefore the
Jays’ magic number is 17, meaning that any combination of Blue Jays’ wins and
Twins’ losses equaling 17, and the Jays clinch a playoff spot.
Of course, if the Twins lose
enough games to fall behind another team, say the Los Angeles Angels, then you
would have to calculate the number all over again, using the Angels’ losses.
When I was a kid and the Jays
were in first place pretty much every year from 1985 until 1993, I would
calculate the magic number constantly. My dad would always say that it was too
early to even think about a magic number until it was only a single digit. But
for me, it was always a part of any division race.
To see that number continually shrink
was a source of excitement. Once the number got to about five and there was a
week to play in the season, you knew it was close to clinching time. Then when
it was at one, you started paying attention to the other divisions to see who
would be the opponent in the American League Championship Series.
Now that Toronto is in first
place in the American League East for the first time in 22 years, the
excitement of watching that number shrink is bringing back memories. As it
continues to get smaller, and eventually hit zero, it will be time to focus on
the next magic number: the one that will indicate how close they are to
clinching the division.
Jays/Yankees Preview
The four-game series between the
Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Yankees in the Bronx this weekend is the
biggest series for the Jays in 22 years. Obviously as the season winds down,
each series that approaches will be the biggest, but for now, this is it.
Toronto swept three games from New York in August and both teams will have this
in mind as they head into the weekend. Both teams played like they didn't want the division in the first part of the week, losing two of three to the teams at the bottom of the division, Toronto to Boston, New York to Baltimore.
They Jays come into the series
with a 1 ½ game lead. By winning only two of the four games this weekend, they
will still be in first place when the series is over. However, if they can
manage to win three of the four, they will take a big step towards the division
title. The two teams will play each other again later in the month, a three
game series in Toronto.
It’s possible that the results
of these seven games will determine the division champion.
Quad Cities River
Bandits Game 1
The Quad City River Bandits dropped the first game of their Midwest League playoff series to the Cedar Rapids Kernels on Wednesday night by a score of 5-2. Game two will go tonight.
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