The baseball season has dwindled to its ultimate month, and there’s a minimal quantity of suspense.
The Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees seem prone to battle for the American League East title all the way in which to the tip, the AL Central race is tantalizingly tight, and that’s about it. The opposite divisions appear to be (practically) settled, and the wild-card races aren’t all that shut.
And but, you by no means know.
It’s potential for a crew to immediately get scorching — actually scorching — within the final month of the season. The first instance comes from 2017, when Cleveland’s AL membership, then often known as the Indians, ran off a 22-game profitable streak between the ultimate week of August and the center of the next month.
The Indians already held a 4.5-game lead within the AL Central when the streak started, a margin they expanded to 13.5 video games by mid-September. Their general report for the ultimate month was 26-4, and their profitable proportion of .867 stays the best for any membership within the Fashionable Period (1961 to the current) after the tip of August.
Listed under are the ten golf equipment with the perfect information in September (and early October, if the schedule ran that lengthy) since ‘61. Every is listed with its wins, losses, and profitable proportion by the tip of August, adopted by the identical stats for the interval after that.
All 10 of those golf equipment certified for the playoffs, together with three that had been exterior the postseason image as of September 1 (the 1974 Orioles, 1995 Yankees, and 2013 Indians). However not one of the 10 went on to win its league pennant. A lot for the idea of momentum.
1. Indians 2017 (by August: 76-56, .576; after: 26-4, .867)
2. Athletics 2001 (by August: 79-56, .585; after: 23-4, .852)
3. Royals 1977 (by August: 76-54, .585; after: 26-6, .813)
4. Orioles 1974 (by August: 66-65, .504; after: 25-6, .806)
5. White Sox 1983 (by August: 75-57, .568; after: 24-6, .800)
6. Mets 1988 (by August: 78-54, .591; after: 22-6, .786)
6. Yankees 1995 (by August: 57-59, .491; after: 22-6, .786)
8. Cardinals 2002 (by August: 76-59, .563; after: 21-6, .778)
8. Indians 2013 (by August: 71-64, .526; after: 21-6, .778)
8. Astros 2018 (by August: 82-53, .607; after: 21-6, .778)
You knew it was coming. The next record is the flip facet of the one above, displaying the ten Fashionable Period groups that ran up the worst information after the tip of August.
The 2002 Baltimore Orioles prime the record. They performed respectably nicely by the tip of August — not nice, however moderately near .500 with a 63-71 report. That’s when the wheels got here off.
The Orioles misplaced 24 of their ultimate 28 video games, together with the final 12 on their schedule. Baltimore had been third within the American League East at the start of the ultimate month, nevertheless it completed fourth, 36.5 video games out of first. Solely the horrendous play of the Tampa Bay Satan Rays (48 video games out) saved them from ending final.
Listed here are the ten weakest stretch drives since 1961:
1. Orioles 2002 (by August: 63-71, .470; after: 4-24, .143)
2. Blue Jays 1978 (by August: 55-80, .407; after: 4-22, .154)
2. Tigers 1996 (by August: 49-87, .360; after: 4-22, .154)
4. Rangers 1972 (by August: 49-76, .392; after: 5-24, .172)
5. Pirates 1998 (by August: 64-71, .474; after: 5-22, .185)
6. Tigers 1975 (by August: 52-81, .391; after: 5-21, .192)
6. Tigers 2002 (by August: 50-85, .370; after: 5-21, .192)
6. Giants 2018 (by August: 68-68, .500; after: 5-21, .192)
9. Orioles 2008 (by August: 63-73, .463; after: 5-20, .200)
9. Tigers 2017 (by August: 58-74, .439; after: 6-24, .200)
I’ve bought the answer to the woes besetting the Chicago White Sox. They need to play solely the Cleveland Guardians and Tampa Bay Rays. No person else.
Chicago had gone 5-5 in opposition to the Guardians and 4-2 versus the Rays when the present season hit the 21-week milestone on August 22. That’s a mixed report of 9-7 for a profitable proportion of .563. Fairly good.
The Sox had received two video games apiece from a half-dozen golf equipment at that time: the Astros, Braves, Cardinals, Nationals, Pink Sox, and Rockies. Their report in opposition to these six groups was 12-10 (.545).
The remainder of the information is discouraging, as you’d anticipate from a membership that shot previous 100 defeats earlier than the tip of August. The White Sox had a single win this yr in opposition to every of 10 groups, together with similar 1-12 marks in opposition to two divisional foes, the Royals and Twins. Chicago’s mixed report in opposition to these 10 golf equipment was 10-53 (.159).
That leaves eight groups that received each single sport, leaving the White Sox with a report of 0-27 (.000) in opposition to them. (The Sox had not but confronted the Angels, Mets, and Padres after 21 weeks of play.)
Right now’s graph breaks down these sad stats from a really, very sad season:
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4 energetic pitchers have labored greater than 2,200 innings of their careers. Right now’s quiz pits them in 5 totally different classes, difficult you to select the general leaders by the 21-week mark (August 22) of the 2024 season.
Scroll to the underside of this article for the solutions.
1. Who has probably the most profession wins?
2. Whose profession ERA is the perfect?
A. Johnny Cueto
B. Clayton Kershaw
C. Max Scherzer
D. Justin Verlander
3. Who has accrued probably the most strikeouts?
A. Johnny Cueto
B. Clayton Kershaw
C. Max Scherzer
D. Justin Verlander
4. Who has labored probably the most full video games?
A. Johnny Cueto
B. Clayton Kershaw
C. Max Scherzer
D. Justin Verlander
5. Who has hit probably the most batters?
A. Johnny Cueto
B. Clayton Kershaw
C. Max Scherzer
D. Justin Verlander
Shohei Ohtani, the celebrity designated hitter for the Los Angeles Dodgers, is on observe for an unprecedented 50-50 season.
Atlanta’s Ronald Acuna Jr. got here closest to 50-50 when he bashed 41 dwelling runs and stole 73 bases in 2023, a tremendous demonstration of energy and pace. However he nonetheless fell 9 homers wanting 50 in that class.
It stays to be seen if Ohtani can attain each requirements, although he has proven a capability to rapidly add numbers on both sides of the ledger. He had eight video games (within the first 21 weeks) this yr during which he hit a minimum of one dwelling run and stole a number of bases.
Elly De La Cruz of the Cincinnati Reds and Francisco Lindor of the New York Mets are the runners-up with six HR/SB video games apiece. A complete of eight gamers have had 4 or extra of those double-threat performances in 2024. Right here, with because of Baseball Reference, is the record:
1. Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers, 8 video games
2. Elly De La Cruz, Reds, 6 video games
2. Francisco Lindor, Mets, 6 video games
4. Luis Garcia Jr., Nationals, 5 video games
4. Gunnar Henderson, Orioles, 5 video games
6. Jazz Chisholm Jr., Marlins-Yankees, 4 video games
6. Jarren Duran, Pink Sox, 4 video games
6. Spencer Steer, Reds, 4 video games
The Detroit Tigers took their foot off the fuel in the course of the week of August 27 to September 2, 1984.
The pennant race within the American League East, for all intents and functions, was over. The ’84 Tigers (who rank as the perfect crew of baseball’s Fashionable Period) started the week with a 12-game lead over the second-place Toronto Blue Jays.
Detroit bookended the seven-day interval with wins over the Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics, however misplaced the 4 video games in between. Probably the most heartbreaking defeat was a 13-inning loss to the A’s, 7-6, on August 31. Mike Davis scored the profitable run for Oakland on a wild pitch by Dave Rozema.
The Tigers nonetheless had a powerful 88-49 report on the morning of September 3, although their lead over Toronto had slipped to eight.5 video games.
The week of August 27 to September 2, 1962, began very properly for the New York Mets, who had been destined to undergo 120 defeats that yr.
Pitcher Al Jackson tossed a three-hit shutout in opposition to the Philadelphia Phillies on August 28, profitable 2-0. It was Jackson’s seventh victory of the season (in opposition to 17 defeats).
However the Phillies received the remaining three video games of their sequence, and the Mets then dropped a pair to the St. Louis Cardinals. The week ended with one other uncommon victory, 4-3 over the Playing cards on September 2. Jackson was the profitable pitcher once more.
Their loss to Philadelphia on August twenty ninth was the a centesimal of the yr for the Mets. They ended the week with a 35-103 report, deep in final place within the Nationwide League, 55.5 video games behind the frontrunning Los Angeles Dodgers.
1-D. (Verlander holds a considerable lead over the sphere. His 260 profession wins are 44 forward of runner-up Scherzer’s 216.)
2-B. (It’s Kershaw by a mile. His profession ERA is 2.48, adopted by Scherzer at 3.16.)
3-C. (Scherzer has 3,405 strikeouts, simply six forward of Verlander’s 3,399. The opposite two are far again.)
4-D. (Verlander has 26 full video games to his credit score, edging forward of Kershaw’s 25.)
5-A. (Cueto has pitched the fewest innings among the many foursome, but he has piled up probably the most HBPs, 120 in all. Verlander is subsequent with 113 hit batters.)
