Thursday, October 25, 2012

2012 World Series

We like the "Who Will Win" analysis as a different angle for championships...

The analysis points to Detroit, based on pitching leadership and fielding consistency.  Read more here:
http://seekingalpha.com/instablog/677712-carlton-chin/1209051-the-2012-world-series-analysis-of-sports-psychology-factors


In addition, this year's World Series matches up one team that swept their semi-final series (Detroit) versus a team that went to 7 games.  Since MLB went to divisions in 1969 (and the MLB playoffs included at least a semi-final round) -- we were curious how teams fared based on how well they performed in the semi-final round.

As we might expect in these short series, there was no definitive answer.

  • Teams that swept the semi-final round (in 3 or 4 games) and played against a team that needed more games to get to the World Series (2 or more games longer) -- are just 4-6 in the World Series.
  • On the other hand, teams that took 2 or fewer games to get to the World Series than their opponents (in the semis) are 8-6 in the World Series (this includes the 4-6 sweepers).  
  • That is, teams that had an easier semi-final generally performed better in the World Series -- unless they swept the semis!