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June 18, 2003 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Midseason Report Card Part 2: Doing Splits It's time for the second half of this special edition of Number Crunch. Last week, we took a look at the Pythagorean Theorem to see which teams had overachieved or underachieved in the first-half based on the differential of their runs scored and runs allowed. This week, we'll take a look at some other splits to see who were the best home and road teams, who has the most success in late and close games and which teams fared best against lefties or righties.
Who Scores More? The Golden Falcons' league-best +165 run-differential is the result of a well-balanced attack: The league's second-best offense (476 runs for) and third-best defense (350 runs against). The Sugar Bears (+129) and Mighty Men (+40) prefer to bombard the competition into surrender. Newark has the league's best offense (507 RF) but their defense is tied for seventh (378 RA); Stanhope's offense is third (435 RF) and their defense is tied for ninth (395 RA). The Endzone Animals have used the opposite strategy to compile a fourth-best +8 run-differential: They have the league's second-worst offense (318 RF) but allow the fewest runs (310 RA). The Iron Fist, tied for fifth-best at +6 run-differential, use a similar strategy, combining an offense tied for eighth-best (357 RF) with the fourth-best pitching staff (351 RA). The Sharks, tied with Vancouver, prefer the Newark/Stanhope approach, with the fourth-best offense (406 RA) and fourth-worst defense (400 RA). The Destroyers, the only other team in the league with a positive run-differential (+1), are their opposite number: They make up up for the league's fifth-worst offense (356 RF) with the fifth-best pitching staff (355 RA). Despite being two games over .500, the Bean Counters rank eighth with a -22 run-differential, with their sixth-best offense (373 RF) not good enough to make up for a pitching staff that's tied for ninth (395 RA). At the other end of the spectrum are the Mudcats (-34), who have the league's second-best defense (341 RA) but are four games under .500 because they are dead last in runs scored (307 RF). Right behind them, the Cutters (-36) are fifth in scoring (397 RF) but have the league's second-worst pitching staff (433 RA). The Rattlesnakes (-42) and Rats (-43) each have the same problem: No hitting, mediocre pitching. Columbia is 12th in offense (326 RF), sixth in defense (368 RA); Harrison is 13th (335 RF) and tied for seventh (378 RA). The Dragons (-47) have the league's seventh-best offense (370 RF) but have given up the third-most runs (417 RA). Bringing up the rear of the pack, the Banditos' middling offense (357 RF) is tied for eighth, not nearly good enough to make up for the league's most generous pitching staff (449 RA), producing the league's worst run-differential (-92) by a wide margin. Road Warriors By far, the best road team over the first half were the Sugar Bears, who went 31-15 (.674) away from the Cereal Bowl. But then, they were 24-12 (.667) at home, so maybe it doesn't matter where they play. But that .674 mark is all the more impressive when one considers that just three other teams in the DMBL have winning records on the road -- Stanhope (.583), Arkansas (.575) and Brooklyn (.511). The Sugar Bears will have to go a nigh-impossible 30-5 on the road over the second half to beat the 1997 Iron Fist's DMBL mark for best road record (60-21, .741). It's not surprising that the team with the league's worst record also had the league's worst road record. But what is surprising is how awful the Banditos have been when playing north of the border: They're just 8-31 (.205) on the road, meaning even with their .500 record in Tijuana (21-21) they're still in last place. It's no surprise that the 10th-place Destroyers would have the second-worst road record (.364) or that the 13th-place Rats be fourth-worst (.386), but who would've thought that Honolulu -- tied for the fourth-best record in baseball -- would be a dreadful 16-26 (.381) away from home, the third-worst mark in the league? Home Defense The Golden Falcons set the league record last year for home wins after going an incredible 64-17 (.790) in Quisenberry Memorial Park, so it's no surprise that once again they're feasting on opponents who venture into their nest. The Falcons were a league- best 31-14 (.689) at home over the first half, followed by the Sugar Bears and Sharks (.667), Mighty Men (.595) and Iron Fist (.556). The Falcons would have to go an improbable 33-3 over the second half to tie their single-season record from last year; interestingly, but no less impossible, the Sugar Bears could tie the mark by posting the same record, 30-5, they need to set the record for most road wins. No team has been truly awful at home, but the most generous hosts so far this season were Phoenix (.441), Harrison (.450), Columbia (.469) and Hoboken (.486). Who has the biggest homefield advantage in baseball? That's tough to say. True, the Golden Falcons have the best home record (.689), but they're one of the toughest teams in baseball wherever they play, so their home winning percentage is only .054 better than their overall record. The team with the biggest homefield advantage, in fact, is probably the Banditos -- they're a .500 team at home, but post just a .205 winning percentage on the road, making them 11½ games better in Tijuana. The Sharks also enjoy a huge advantage while playing at home (.667 home, .381 away), and the Destroyers have the third-biggest split (.543 home, .364 away). The team with the smallest home-field advantage are the Sugar Bears. They're the only team in the league that is actually worse at home (.667 winning percentage) than they are on the road (.674). Schedule Gazing The Bean Counters played 47 times on the road in their first 80 games, so they can look forward to plenty of homecooking over the next three months, with 48 home games and 34 road games left on their schedule. The Dragons (47 home/32 away), Sugar Bears (45/35), Mighty Men (44/33), Cutters (44/35) and Rats (41/37) also have more home games than away games over the second half. Conversely, the team that enjoyed the most home games over the first half and will now be doing a lot of travelling is Columbia, who played 49 of their first 80 games at home and will have to survive 50 road games over their remaining 82 games. Other teams playing more away than home for the rest of the year: Hillsborough (35 home/48 road), Carolina (35/47), Vancouver (36/44), Philly (39/43), Tijuana (39/42) and Arkansas (36/41). Just one team -- the perpetually jetlagged Honolulu Sharks -- played an equal number of home and road games over the first half, and obviously have the same split for their final 78 games. Shelling Southpaws, Raking Righties It's tough to be a left-handed starter in the DMBL, as just three teams have a losing record against southpaws over the first half. Once again, it's a bit of a surprise to see the team tied for the fourth-best overall record posting one of the league's worst records against lefties: Honolulu, which went 7-13 (.350) against southpaws. The only other teams baffled by lefty starters are the Dragons (.450) and Rattlesnakes (.474). Who likes facing lefties? The Golden Falcons devour them (.750), as do the Sugar Bears (.647), Mighty Men (.615) and Destroyers (.611). When it comes to righties, Newark (.677) predictably leads the field, followed by Arkansas (.590), Honolulu (.578) and Stanhope (.576). All in the Family? Now that the All-Star Game is over, teams in the same division don't have to pretend to like each other anymore! Over the first half, the team that was toughest on its brethren were the Sugar Bears, who were a terrifying 32-11 (.744) against fellow Hanover clubs. The Iron Fist were a distant second, with a 25-17 (.595) mark against their Morris Division foes; the Golden Falcons (24-17), Endzone Animals (23-17) and Mighty Men (25-19) were all within percentage points of Vancouver. The league's worst team was, predictably, Tijuana (12-25), with a .324 winning percentage against their own division -- but that's just two wins behind their overall winning percentage of .358! The Cutters (16-27), Mudcats (15-24) and Rats (17-26) also struggle within the division. Which is the most merciless team against foes from outside its division? That would be the Golden Falcons, who are an impressive 30-14 (.682) against teams from the other side. But the three squads behind Arkansas are all from the Hanover Division: The Mighty Men (25-16), Sugar Bears (23-16), and Cutters (23-17). The worst team outside the division is one of the best teams within it: The Endzone Animals, who are a brutal 15-25 (.375) when playing the other division. Second-worst are the Banditos (17-27), followed by the Destroyers (.400) and Rattlesnakes (.429). With a little research, a smart bettor could've picked the winner of the All-Star Game: The first half went to Hanover, 154-137 (.529), over the Morris in inter-divisional play. Head-to-Head There are a few surprises when looking at the team vs. team matchups over the first half. For example, the Sugar Bears were .500 or better against every team in baseball -- except the Golden Falcons, who they're 0-6 against! Don't think that stat won't come up if these two teams meet again in the World Series. But the Golden Falcons went 2-3 against the Iron Fist, the team they may face in the division championship, and they lost four out of six to the Bean Counters. Newark is 9-1 against those two teams... The Cutters are the only team in baseball to have a winning record against both the Iron Fist and the Golden Falcons (combined 8-3), but they're 0-8 against Newark. The Cutters are also the only team that Tijuana has a winning record against (3-2)... If the season ended at the All-Star Break, the Bean Counters would have snuck into the playoffs with the league's sixth-best record. But they likely wouldn't last long: Brooklyn is 10-18 (.357) against the five teams ahead of them in the standings... Stanhope went 6-14 against Newark, Vancouver and (curiously) Phoenix, but 44-21 (.677) against the rest of the league... The Battle of the Pucci Brothers went overwhelmingly to Anthony in the first half. His Endzone Animals took 7 out of 10 from Chris's Mudcats. Things That Make You Go "Hmm..." It's amazing that the Endzone Animals are tied for the league's seventh-best record despite ranking last in come-from-behind wins (1) and last in come-from-behind losses (10)! So if they lose when they're losing and lose when they're winning, how are they four games under .500? It's because they've gone an uncanny 11-3 (.786) in games tied after seven innings... The Sugar Bears have the league's best record in one-run games (14-6), so they must do well in close games -- except how do you explain they're 3-5 in games tied after seven innings, and a league-worst 2-7 in extra-inning games?... Newark also has the best record when they're leading after 7 (45-1) and the most come-from-behind victories (7-21)... The best teams in extra-innings are the Sharks (7-3) and the Iron Fist (9-4) -- no surprise since both were among the league's top teams over the first half. But who would've expected to see the 13th-place Rats with the league's third-best record in extra frames, at 8-4?... Three teams play their home games on artificial turf this year -- Vancouver, Arkansas and Hillsborough. Thanks to the homefield advantage, they've all got great records on turf. But it's a bit of a surprise to see that the team with the best turf record this year is the Cutters, who are 8-3 (.727) on the fake stuff, but 31-41 (.431) on the real thing. Will they be laying some carpet in The Quarry next season? Cecil Fielder was the first selection in the DMBL's inaugural draft in 1991. Since then he's enjoyed a solid career as a member of seven DMBL teams. He is now retired and serves as the color man for the Columbia Rattlesnakes radio team. Click Here for past articles. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||