It’s kind of funny, the Yanks are at .500 and the big goat last year (A-Rod) is by far and away their MVP. So Yanks fans have to deal with a mediocre squad and A-Rod being their savior. It brings a smile to my face :D.
Some people use 1.83 rather than 2 for the exponent (for example, Baseball Reference does this) because the results match the actual W-L records a little closer.
Interestingly, the Yankees were formula-busters last year, since they won 101 and the Pythagorean W-L for them was 89-73. Not sure what that can be attributed to.
So has Fermat’s Last Baseball Theorem been disproved?
I am the least sabermetric baseball person ever. Today is the first time I’ve ever messed around with spreadsheets when discussing baseball.
And I thought the Last Baseball Theorem was related to Mark Bellhorn’s strikeout totals anyway. 
Yes, I was using the Pythagorean method. (Well, I didn’t bother for the Yankees. 
)
As cmkeller alluded to, I had heard that actually it works slightly better if you use an exponent like 1.83 or something but
A) I can’t be bothered, and
B) Over 55-57 games, it won’t make any difference.
Mr. Goob,, the Blue Jays are spending about $50 million this year. According to the team. they plan to increase the average payroll to $80 million, if it will help the team win - I don’t think they plan on dropping their plan to build from within, but they have said they’ll spend bucks to bring in a big name or two if they feel it will mean playoffs. They’ve said they’d start spending the moeny this year if the team was still in contention come the no-waiver trade deadline (July 31) but at this point, at 30-28, we may have to wait for 2006.
I don’t think they’re good enough yet; I think they’d be foolish to increase payroll in 2006 unless they got really hot and were in a playoff spot come July. The team is generally very young, has drafted very well, has a few obvious holes to plug that will impove it, and they almost certainly will be better next year; why not spend the money when it has the best chance to help you, rather than throwing it away in a hopeless effort?
Part of the reason this happened this year was that they bought the SkyDome, and so now get all the associated revenue. They renamed it the “Rogers Centre.”
The story he’s been giving the media is that he’s out of his rhythm. He says he likes to pitch every fifth day, but the team has him pitching every fifth game, or something like that. The point is, he says he hasn’t been comfortable with his post-game conditioning, mid-span workout, and pre-game rampup the way he has been in previous years.
Or maybe it’s a load of hooey, and he’s just done. It’ll depend on whether or not the team gives him the opportunity to return to his routine and prove that’s the problem.
Cervaise, I think you’re right.
I also think that IF RJ had been a Yankee last year, they’d have won the series. Just a year too late.
I am also fearful that the great Mariano Rivera will soon be past his prime as a closer.
Well, whatever the situation, he’s hardly going to come out and say, “Hey, you know what? The Yankees wasted their 15 million bucks because i just don’t have what it takes any more.”
That would be the greatest news conference EVER, though ;).
RickJay:
Can’t take the credit, that was brianjedi. I just added the math geek joke.
Johnson is pitching well, though. He’s whiffed 73 men against just 20 walks, is averaging a hit an inning, 4.07 ERA. With an average defense behind him you might get that ERA under 4. He hasn’t been Super Randy like in years past, but he’s been more than good enough; it’s the rest of the staff that’s sucked.