FIRST OBSERVATIONS

As we will do on the first day of every month during the season is take a quick look at the big picture as reflected in the standings.

Here is a tool that might make this a more interesting perusal for those of you who are interested:

The pythagorean winning percentage

Pythagorean winning percentage is an estimate of a team's winning percentage given their runs scored and runs allowed. Developed by Bill James, it can tell you when teams were a bit lucky or unlucky. It is calculated in this fashion:

               (Runs Scored)^1.83

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 (Runs Scored)^1.83 +  (Runs Allowed)^1.83

The traditional formula uses an exponent of two, but this has proven to be a little more accurate.

The AL team with the most luck, in terms of wins (+7), is the Angels. The AL team with the worst luck, in terms of wins (-5), is the Indians.

 The NL team with the most luck, in terms of wins (+4), is the Marlins. The NL team with the worst luck, in terms of wins (-6), is the Braves. As a frame of reference, the Mets and the Diamondbacks are at 0, meaning their Runs Scored and Runs Allowed correctly reflects their record.

 Here are at least 20 facts about each division:

AL EAST            W            L            PCT            GB            H            R            RS            RA           

Tampa Bay            50            32            .610            -            31-13            19-19            387            331

Boston            50            35            .588            1.5            31-10            19-25            428            356

NY Yankees            44            39            .530            6.5            22-19            22-20            386            366

Baltimore            41            40            .506            8.5            22-13            19-27            366            370

Toronto            41            43            .488            10            22-19            19-24            346            316

• Tampa Bay has the best record in the majors; last year at this time they were 33-47.
• The Rays lead the league with 88 stolen bases.
• The Rays are 35-23 against right-handed starters.
• The Rays are 22-15 against the East.
• Boston leads the league with a .280 batting average.
• Hitters are only batting .213 against Tampa relievers.
• The Red Sox lead the league with 320 walks by their batters.
• Boston is the AL Wild Card leader.
• The Red Sox are now 3-12 indoors in 2008
• The BoSox have 20 come from behind wins.
• The Jays are 6-4 in this new Cito Gaston era.
• Toronto has not had a walkoff win this season.
• The Jays are 34-11 when scoring first.
• The Yankees are a major eague-best 25-12 since 5/21.
• The BoSox are 13-3 against lefties.
• Toronto pitchers have 8 complete games, the most in the league.
• Boston and Toronto pitchers each a league leading 624 strikeouts.
• The Yankees have won 10 games this season when scoring three runs or fewer (10-23 overall) and were 6-36 in such games in 2007 and 10-37 in 2006.
• The Red Sox are 2-11 on turf.
• The O’s have reached the 40 win mark in June for just the second time in the last 10 seasons. The 2005 Birds won their 40th game on June 18 of that year.
• The Yankees were 38-41 on July 1, 2007.
• The Yankees lead the majors averaging 52,214 fans a game.
• The Yankees have 20 come-from-behind wins.
• The Sox are 7-4 in series sweeps.
• The Orioles’ have dropped 12 straight Sunday games (six by one run, three by
• four runs, two by five runs and one by six runs). The Birds have been outscored 67-34 on Sundays this year.
• Baltimore is 17-13 in one run games.
• The Orioles were 11-7 in interleague play.
• With the bases loaded, batters are only hitting .195 against the Orioles staff.
• The Jays and the Mariners were 10-16 in June.

AL CENTRAL           

Chicago Sox            47            35            .573            -            28-11            19-24            402            315

Minnesota            45            38            .542            2.5            27-18            18-20            398            390

Detroit            42            40            .512            5            25-17            17-23            398            393

Kansas City            38            45            .458            9.5            19-21            19-24            341            387

Cleveland            37            46            .446            10.5            22-22            15-24            368            359

• The AL Central was 58-32 in interleague play.
• The White Sox lead the AL with 112 homers.
• The White Sox are 18-12 in day games.
• From the 7^th inning on, ChiSox pitchers have a 2.60 ERA.
• From the 7^th inning on, Tigers pitchers have a 5.06 ERA.
• The Indians are only hitting .248 as a team.
• Cleveland pitchers have thrown four complete game shutouts.
• Hitters are batting .279 against Cleveland relievers.
• Minnesota leads the league with 24 triples.
• Minnesota pitchers have only allowed 200 walks, the fewest in the league. They are allowing only 2.4 walks per game.
• With the bases loaded, batters are hitting .363 against the Twins staff.
• Minnesota pitchers are allowing 10.0 hits per game, the most in the league.
• The Twins and Rangers pitchers have each surrendered 822 hits, the most in the AL.
• Detroit leads the majors with 25 come from behind wins.
• The Tigers were 19-8 in June.
• The Royals were 13-5 in interleague play.
• KC is 5-11 against the West.
• The Indians have 38 errors, the fewest in baseball.
• The Indians were a league-worst 6-12 interleague play.
• Indian batters were hit by 22 pitches in June, the most in the AL
• The Twins are hitting .280 with Runners in Scoring Position and two outs, the best in the AL.
• The White Sox are hitting .205 with Runners in Scoring Position and two outs, the worst in the AL.
• The Royals have won six straight on the road, the team's longest run since 1999.

AL WEST           

LA Angels            49            34            .590            -            22-19            27-15            341            334

Oakland            45            37            .549            3.5            27-21            18-16            363            299

Texas            43            41            .512            6.5            21-18            22-23            458            468

Seattle            31            51            .378            17.5            15-25            16-26            331            392

• The Angels are 16-9 against the Central.
• The Angels and Oakland were each 16-10 in June.
• Oakland’s 3.39 ERA is the best in the AL.
• Batters are only .235 against the A’s staff.
• Texas leads the league scoring 5.45 runs per game. They are last in the league allowing 5.57 runs per game.
• Texas leads the league with 187 doubles.
• Texas leads the league with 615 strikeouts by their batters.
• Texas pitchers have allowed 343 walks, the most in the league.
• Texas has committed 74 errors the most in baseball.
• Texas has had exactly a .500 record 22 times this season and are 2 games over .500 for the first time since following a victory on Sept. 22, 2006 vs. Cleveland (78-76).
• The Angels have 16 wins this season when scoring three runs-or-less (leads MLB).
• The Angels are 33-16 in games decided by two runs-or-less, best record and most such games played in majors.
• The Angels have 15 comeback victories and five walkoff wins.
• LAA pitchers have held opponents to two earned runs-or-less in 22 of last 26 wins.
• The Angels’ 204 road wins since start of 2004 are the most in baseball.
• The Halos are 35-4 when they score first (most wins in the majors).
• Texas is 10-0 when hitting 3 or more HRs this season.
• Led by K-Rod the Angels relievers have 34 saves, the most in the league.
• Oakland runners have only been caught stealing12 times.
• Oakland pitchers are only allowing 7.9 hits per game.
• Seattle is 4-10 against the Central.
• The Mariners were 9-9 in interleague play.
• The Mariners longest winning streak this season is three, achieved twice.

NL EAST           

Philadelphia            44            39            .530            -            22-18            22-21            420            348

Florida            43            39            .524            .5            25-19            18-20            391            408

NY Mets            40            42            .488            3.5            22-18            18-24            379            386

Atlanta            40            43            .482            4            28-14            12-29            374            334

Washington            33            51            .393            11.5            18-26            15-25            305            420

• The Phils were 4-11 in interleague play.
• The Phillies stole 28 bases in June, the most in the NL.
• The Phillies have 66 stolen bases and have only been caught 8 times.
• The Mets are 15-15 against the East.
• Atlanta’s 3.69 is the best ERA in the NL.
• Batters are only .246 against the Braves staff.
• The Braves are 4-21 in one run games.
• The Braves are 1-7 in extra innings.
• The Phillies have lost 6 straight series.
• The Marlins are 9-1 vs. the Nationals this season.
• The Braves are 5-5 in series sweeps this season.
• Washington is 13-21 against lefties.
• Washington leads the majors with 8 walkoff wins.
• The Marlins’ 68 errors lead the NL.
• No team in the NL has more than 3 complete games and four have none.
• Washington was 9-18 in June.
• Atlanta has made 12 1^st inning errors.
• The day after being shut out this year the Phils are 3 -2.
• The Marlins are averaging 14,896 fans a game, the worst in baseball.
• The Atlanta Braves went 8-7 and the Marlins went 5-10 in interleague play.
• Against the NL this season, the Phillies are 40-28 (.588).
• The New York Mets surpassed 3.5 million tickets sold for their final season at Shea Stadium, marking the fastest time in franchise history that the Mets have exceeded that milestone.
• The largest deficit the Mets have overcome this season is two runs, which they have done six times.
• The Mets only have one grand slam this season (Carlos Delgado).

NL CENTRAL           

Chicago Cubs            50            33            .602            -            33-10            17-23            452            351

St. Louis            48            36            .571            2.5            24-17            24-19            395            361

Milwaukee            44            38            .537            5.5            25-13            19-25            367            372

Houston            40            43            .482            10            22-18            18-25            364            396

Cincinnati            39            45            .464            11.5            22-17            17-28            357            414

Pittsburgh            38            44            .463            11.5            25-19            13-25            397            450

• The Cubs are 25-14 in day games.
• The Cubs are 19-5 against the West.
• Chicago is 19-9 against lefties.
• The Brewers were 16-10 in June.
• The Cubs and Cardinals were 15-12 in June. With the Brewers, these were the only three teams above .500 in June.
• The Brewers lamed 44 homers in June.
• St. Louis is the NL Wild Card leader.
• The Cards are 17-14 in one run games.
• The Brewers are 17-7 in one run games.
• The Pirates have a 29-29 record in their last 58 games (beginning on April 27)
• Houston is 14-18 in their division.
• Houston, St. Louis, and San Diego have the fewest errors in the NL with 43.
• Reds pitchers lead the NL with 646 strikeouts.
• Pittsburgh pitchers have the fewest Ks with 475.
• The Pirates are 8-3 in extra innings.
• The Reds went 5-4 on their last roadtrip, posting a winning record on a road trip for the first time this season and for only the second time in the last 22 road trips dating back to 2006.
• The Reds went 9-6 in interleague play.
• The Pirates posted a record of 12-15 in the month of June
• Pittsburgh’s 5.10 ERA is the worst in the NL.
• Batters are hitting .288 against the Bucs pitchers.
• Pirates pitchers have given up 847 hits in 745 innings.
• The Pirates are hitting .287 with Runners in Scoring Position and two outs, the best in the majors.

NL WEST           

Arizona            42            41            .506            -            25-15            17-26            372            362

LA Dodgers            38            44            .463            3.5            22-20            16-24            332            332

San Francisco            36            47            .434            6            14-25            22-22            337            381

San Diego            33            51            .393            9.5            21-26            12-25            317            398

Colorado            32            51            .386            10            20-20            12-31            349            432

• The NL West went 27-54 with no team having a winning record in interleague play.
• Arizona is 20-8 in their division.
• After starting the season 20-8, the Diamondbacks are 22-33 but have only lost 1½ games in the standings.
• The Dodgers' bullpen has not allowed a run in 15 2/3 innings.
• LA is 14-31 when their opponent scores first.
• The Padres went 3-15 in Interleague play.
• The Giants finished June 13-14. Their last winning month was August, 2007 (16-15).
• The Giants have dropped 15 of last 18 contests at AT&T Park.
• SF has posted 3-straight winning roadtrips for 1st time since 2003.
• Despite being 5 games under .500, the Dodgers are in second place, compared to being 9 games above .500 and in third place in 2007 at this time.
• The most errors the Dodgers have had in a game this season is two, which they have had 10 times.
• The Giants pitching staff has surrendered 338 walks, the most in the NL.
• The Giants only hit 14 homers in June.
• The Rockies finished June with a 12-15 mark, their third losing month of the season.
• Arizona pitchers have walked 243 batters, the fewest in the NL.
• The Padres and the Reds are each hitting .199 with Runners in Scoring Position and two outs, the worst in baseball.
• The Rockies have lost eight straight and nine of their last 10 to fall a season-high 19 games below .500.
• San Diego is now 83-111 all-time in Interleague play, with a 43-54 mark at home and 40-57 record on the road.
• The Padres have 15 come from behind wins.
• The Giants have 13 comeback wins this season.
• Here’s the Dodgers won-lost record this season by day: Sunday (4-9), Monday (5-4), Tuesday (7-6), Wednesday (7-6), Thursday (3-5), Friday (5-7), Saturday (7-7).
• LA is 3-10 in two-run games.