The Problem With Postseason Stats
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Ok, unfortunately the Yankees did not make the postseason this year. A recently published chart accurately states that the Yankees went to the postseason 13 consecutive seasons from 1995 through 2007. If furthermore shows that only the Atlanta Braves have more postseason consecutive appearances with 14. Their chart shows the following:
Atlanta Braves (14) 1991-2005 NY Yankees (13) 1995-2007 NY Yankees (5) 1949-1953 NY Yankees (5) 1960-1964 Oakland Athletics (5) 1971-1975 Cleveland Indians (5) 1991-1995
Including the Yankee teams from the 50's and 60's in this chart belittles those great teams because there wasn't three tiers of postseason play like today. There was only the World Series. Comparing the teams before 1969 (first year of division play) and teams afterwards is like comparing apples and oranges. These numbers strongly, and incorrectly, imply that the Braves and the Yankees of the 1990’s – 2000’s have a record almost three times as impressive as that of the Yankees of the 1950’s – 1960’s. Players from the Yankee teams of the 50’s and 60’s should, and probably do, feel insulted with this unfair comparison.
From 1949 through 1960, there were 16 teams in baseball and only two of them (12.5%) made it to the postseason. From 1961-1968 there were 20 teams of which two (10%) went to the postseason each year. Today, there are 30 teams in baseball and 8 (26.6%) of them advance to the postseason. Teams now have a better than 1 in 4 chance of making it to the postseason thus making if a far easier task than back in the 50’s and 60’s. Teams with a winning percentage of just over .500 are now frequently making it into the postseason.
What if MLB decided to make hitting home runs easier in order to boost attendance? What if all outfield fences were moved in to a distance of 275'? When players begin hitting 100+ home runs in a season, will it be fair to include those leaders in the same chart as Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron and others who had to hit homers farther? Imagine a home run chart like this in 2010...
Ryan Howard 125 Adam Dunn 108 Alex Rodriguez 97 Lance Berkman 92 Barry Bonds 73 Mark McGwire 70 Sammy Sosa 66 Mark McGwire 65 Sammy Sosa 64 Sammy Sosa 63 Roger Maris 61 Babe Ruth 60
As you can see, this chart, just like the recently published one, is absurd. This home run chart doesn't separate the short homers from the steroid homers from the true blue homers. What an insult this would be to Babe Ruth and Roger Maris.
To be fair, the offending media should have made the distinction between World Series appearances and Postseason appearances by dividing it into two sections as follows:
Consecutive World Series Appearances
NY Yankees (5) 1949-1953 NY Yankees (5) 1960-1964 NY Giants (4) 1921-1924 NY Yankees (4) 1936-1939 NY Yankees (4) 1956-1958 NY Yankees (4) 1998-2001
Consecutive Postseason Appearances
Atlanta Braves (14) 1991-2005 NY Yankees (13) 1995-2007 Oakland Athletics (5) 1971-1975 Cleveland Indians (5) 1991-1995
And, as we enter the 2008 postseason, we will undoubtedly be bombarded with postseason (not World Series) statistics. The press and announcers should only include stats and records after 1968 when discussing Postseason. Otherwise, we’re right back to apples and oranges.
By the way, the 1949-1953 Yankees not only went to the World Series 5 consecutive years, they were the World Champions those 5 consecutive years. That feat has never been accomplished before or since. Putting the current day Yankees and Braves over this team is a show of utter disrespect to this team as well as the history of the great game of baseball.
Let us not forget the great teams and players that make baseball
history so rich. The game of baseball is still the greatest
game on the planet but it is not what it used to be.
Belittling the old, great teams and players is not the way to
improve the image of baseball today. These players deserve a
lot of credit and respect that seems to have become lost somewhere
along the way...
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