wins divided by (wins + losses)

A little known fact is that I LOVE baseball. My dad is a big fan and so we grew up with baseball. I started playing T-ball when I was little (maybe 5?) and my dad was the coach. I eventually moved up to softball in elementary school and continued on playing softball through high school.

I remember watching the World Series in 1984 – when the Tigers kicked ass. And I remember moving to NY and going to regular Yankee games in the big old stadium.

I have to admit though, since moving back from NY (before my 8th grade year), I haven’t paid too much attention to Major League Baseball in general, or the Tigers in particular. I did acknowledge that there was a long stretch of time when they truly sucked.

In 2006 though, I started to pay a bit of attention. That was the year that they won the American League Central championships, made it to the World Series and got my heart pumping. That year, I was always distracted whenever there was a TV around that showed the game. I tried to catch the games here and there on TV at home, and vowed that in 2007 I’d show more loyalty to my team.

Well, 2007 came and went and I was no more loyal than I was in 2006, maybe a bit less. So be it.

So, when we bought our fancy-pants HD TV this year and upgraded our HD Tivo with a giant (1T) drive, I decided it was time to set up a season pass for FSNHD – Tiger Baseball. I found that Nick enjoys watching baseball *almost* as much as I do, and we’ve watched several games this season. It was enough to get me hooked. I’ve started following Tiger Baseball news and try to keep track of where they sit in the standings. And I’ve recently found myself on wikipedia, trying to figure out what the different abbreviations mean, what some different stats mean and what are some of the more intricate rules of the very complex sport.

So far this year, I’ve learned what constitutes a legal hit , what the hell is Earned Run Average and after a discussion at the bar last night about whether or not the Tigers have a chance at the playoffs, I did some research today and decided that its a good thing that the season doesn’t end until October, because even though the Tigers are kicking ass lately, they’re still not even close to being in the playoffs – even on a wildcard.

Yes, my research today told me what is a wild card team, what the hell is the PCT and how teams are chosen for the division series and the championship series

Its been fun, following a team and learning the real ins and outs of the sport. I really can’t believe that people find it to be a slow moving and boring sport when there is just so much going on out there – all the time.

I’ll leave you with the link to Baseball Statistics on Wikipedia for reference – enjoy!

Tigers Standings:
46 Wins / 44 Losses – 7 games out of first place (4 games out of second) in the American League Central division.

.511 PCT puts them in 6th place overall in the American League (right square in the middle of the standings). In order to go to the ALDS, they need to either be in 1st place in the AL Central division or they need to have the next highest PCT after the division leaders.

Show our boys some support when you can – they’re gonna need it.