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Friday, August 15th, 2008
Magic Number: 37
Today is Friday, August 15, 2008 and the Chicago Cubs' Magic Number is 37. I am sure there are two possible responses for that statement.
1. It's August 15. That's way too early to start talking about Magic Numbers.
2. What's a Magic Number?
It's probably better to address the second question first. For the Humzooers who are not baseball fans, the Cubs' Magic Number is any combination of Cubs victories and Milwaukee Brewers (since they are in second place) losses needed for the Cubs to clinch the National League Central Division.
Since I have a Brewers fan in the house, and a few additional exist in Humzooland, the Milwaukee Brewers' Magic Number for the National League Wild Card is 37 too. That is any combination of Brewers victories and St. Louis Cardinals losses.
To answer the first question, yes, you're probably right. The problem is that this season is probably the Cubs' best opportunity to march through the playoffs and win the National League. Also, I am looking forward to a Cubs/Brewers playoff series, though that is not possible until the National League Championship Series (NLCS).
Back-to-back-to-back-to-back homeruns
On a side note, did you hear about the White Sox game on Thursday. The White Sox hit four consecutive home runs. They became the sixth team in MLB history to accomplish this feat, and it was the first time for the White Sox. Jim Thome started the fireworks with a three-run homer, then Paul Konerko, Alexei Ramirez and Juan Uribe followed.
Magic Number: 37
Today is Friday, August 15, 2008 and the Chicago Cubs' Magic Number is 37. I am sure there are two possible responses for that statement.
1. It's August 15. That's way too early to start talking about Magic Numbers.
2. What's a Magic Number?
It's probably better to address the second question first. For the Humzooers who are not baseball fans, the Cubs' Magic Number is any combination of Cubs victories and Milwaukee Brewers (since they are in second place) losses needed for the Cubs to clinch the National League Central Division.
Since I have a Brewers fan in the house, and a few additional exist in Humzooland, the Milwaukee Brewers' Magic Number for the National League Wild Card is 37 too. That is any combination of Brewers victories and St. Louis Cardinals losses.
To answer the first question, yes, you're probably right. The problem is that this season is probably the Cubs' best opportunity to march through the playoffs and win the National League. Also, I am looking forward to a Cubs/Brewers playoff series, though that is not possible until the National League Championship Series (NLCS).
Back-to-back-to-back-to-back homeruns
On a side note, did you hear about the White Sox game on Thursday. The White Sox hit four consecutive home runs. They became the sixth team in MLB history to accomplish this feat, and it was the first time for the White Sox. Jim Thome started the fireworks with a three-run homer, then Paul Konerko, Alexei Ramirez and Juan Uribe followed.
Thanks for the info and the consideration to add the Brewers number as well in your post. Did you "do the math" or did you see that number somewhere? Either way, I'm impressed.
This will be an exciting next month and a half for sure. There was an article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel this morning that said the Brewers mailed out info to season ticket holders about playoff tickets. I hope they didn't jinx themselves. That did happen last year...
Bill, today I thought you'd be writing about the decision to start using limited instant replay.
@Carrie: Glad to include the Brewers on my blog. I'd love to have both teams in the playoffs. Just imagine if the Sox win the AL Central. We'd be Midwest heavy in the post-season. Honestly, I looked up the number on mlb.com. They list it as the "Elimination Number" in the standings.
@SallyPants: I have mixed feelings on instant replay. I think a better solution is to extend the width of the foul poles. At Wrigley Field, the Cubs have a yellow metal fence that extends a few feet high. If they extended that the entire height of the pole, that would help immensely. Also, something happened when the Cubs installed the new basket a few years ago. The umpires never had an issue if a home run was a home run or not.
The Cubs just wasted a golden opportunity to break through against the Marlins in the seventh inning. Base loaded with two outs and Derrek Lee up as a pinch hitter.
M = 163 - W1 - L2
So as of today the :
Cubs are 76-48
Brewers are 71-54
Cardinals are 70-57
So based on the above formula the Cubs number to win the division is:
163-76-54=33
to win the wild card:
163-76-57=30