On Wednesday, October 27th 2004, the Curse of the Bambino was finally lifted off the City of Boston and its long-suffering baseball fans (see Appendix A for more on the Curse). For the first time in 86 years, the Boston Red Sox were the world champions of baseball.
There is no arguing that the 2004 Red Sox were a good team that played excellent baseball throughout the season. The team was led not by talent cultivated through the Red Sox’ farm system but by high-priced, free-agent acquisitions such as Pedro Martinez, Manny Ramirez, Keith Foulke, Curt Shilling and David Ortiz. The average age for a Red Sox team member was 31.1 years, the oldest team average in the league. Additionally, the cumulative payroll for the 2004 Red Sox was the second highest in Major League Baseball at $125,208,542 or $4,173,618 per player. The previous two statistics describe some of the off-field demographic makeup of the 2004 Red Sox. In additional to being a veteran and well-paid ball club, the Red Sox performed well on the field as well. The team batting average (number of hits divided by number of official at-bats) of the Red Sox was tied for the highest of the 30 Major Leagues teams at 0.282. In terms of pitching statistics, the Red Sox were in the top third of earned run average (E.R.A.; the number of earned runs allowed per nine innings of play). Fielding average (number of successful fielding attempts divided by total number of fielding attempts) is the only major statistic where the Red Sox were significantly below the mean, ranking in the bottom quartile.
I am interested in analyzing the Major League Baseball data from the 2004 season to determine the factors that best predict success (measured by the number of team wins). I am especially interested in analyzing the relationship between wins and payroll. I am most curious about this relationship because this relationship can be controlled by the ball club’s management. On-field performance is less controllable by the team’s management because it has a higher ‘human performance’ element. Furthermore, I will obtain the linear regression equations for the various variables and detailing the additional amount of wins for the marginal amount of the independent variable. In addition to analyzing the relationship between payroll and wins, I am also interested in analyzing the relationship between other major statistical categ...
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...s out the level of payroll was not a significant variable for predicting the number of wins. Although the Boston Red Sox had a high payroll, I conclude that their success was much more related to their superior hitting and pitching during 2004 than to their high-payroll.
Appendix A
The Legend of the Curse
In 1918 the Red Sox won their 5th World Series, the most by any club at that time. One of the stars of the Boston championship franchise was a young pitcher by the name of George Herman Ruth, aka The Babe or The Bambino.
In 1920, however, Red Sox owner Harry Frazee needed money to finance his girlfriend's play, so he sold Babe Ruth's contract to Colonel Jacob Ruppert's New York Yankees for $100,000 (plus a loan collateralized by Fenway Park).
Since then, the Yankees, who had never won a World Championship before acquiring Ruth, have gone on to win 26, and are arguably one of the greatest success stories in the history of sport.
Meanwhile, the Boston Red Sox have appeared in only four World Series since 1918, losing each one in game seven. Many consider Boston's performance after the departure of Babe Ruth to be attributable to "The Curse of the Bambino."
Do Major League Baseball teams with higher salaries win more frequently than other teams? Although many people believe that the larger payroll budgets win games, which point does vary, depending on the situation. "performances by individual players vary quite a bit from year to year, preventing owners from guaranteeing success on the field. Team spending is certainly a component in winning, but no team can buy a championship." (Bradbury). For some, it’s hard not to root for the lower paid teams. If the big money teams, like Goliath, are always supposed to win, it’s hard not cheer for David. This paper will discuss the effects of payroll budgets on the percentage of wins for the 30 Major League Baseball teams of 2007.
On July 27 1959, A new York attorney named William shea had an idea of putting a new baseball team in new York since the dodgers and giants had left for california.So on march 1st 1961 His wish was granted.The new York metropolitan baseball club or “the new York mets” were introduced into the national league.The name of the team was chosen by owner Joan Payson.The other names that were put into thought were the rebels, skyliners, nybs and avengers just to name a few.On April 11,1962 the mets played their first game in franchise history and lost 11-4 to the St Louis cardinals.The first season was a miserable one.Manager Casey Stengel led the mets to a 62-100 record,The worst record in major league history.After a couple of more losing seasons, The mets finally made a move and signed pitcher Tom “the franchise”Seaver,one of the best pitchers who ever played the game. They also picked up power hitting outfielders Donn Clendenon and Tommie Agee. Finally the mets looked like a baseball team.Entering the 1969 season, my father said the mets wewr 160-1 to win the World Series, but the mets shocked everyone winning the national league championship. Now, this is how the mets won their first world series, The batter was cleon Jones, after striking out manager Gil Hodges notices a black mark on the ball. The black mark was shoe polish. Putting shoe polish on the ball makes it spin more and makes it much easier to strike out a batter.
By the 1950’s the New York Yankees had already experienced previous decades of glory and high levels of success over the rest of Major League Baseball. However, the 50’s had began a new decade of a higher level of dominance. The Yankees were supported by big name players like Whitey Ford, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Joe DiMaggio and a younger, less-experienced pitching staff. In this storied decade the Bronx Bombers were able to win eight American League Pennants and six World Series. (Yankees Baseball)
The game of baseball has changed ever since Babe Ruth has joined the league. He has changed the game with the amount of power he brings to the plate. Right now with the Yankees, he has showed how amazing he is and has helped make the Yankees popular by winning a few World Series and breaking many homerun records. For Babe to come into the league, it took a little help to get noticed.
However, if the current rules remain in place and baseball continues without a salary cap, the only hope a small market team may have is to fend for themselves on the big market with financially superior teams. This becomes an exceedingly harder task when one team can afford the salary of two top players while those contracts are equal to the entire payroll of another team’s entire roster. Therefore, the question remains should baseball implement a salary cap, and if they do, how would it come into play. When asking the question regarding the salary cap, four supporting ideas arise for either the implementation of a salary cap or keeping it nonexistent.
Under the protection of Major League Baseball’s (“MLB”) longtime antitrust exemption, Minor League Baseball (“MiLB”) has continuously redefined and reshaped itself according to Baseball’s overall needs. But while MLB salaries have increased dramatically since the MLB reserve clause was broken in 1975, the salaries of minor league players have not followed suit.
The 1919 World series resulted in the most famous Scandal in Baseball history. Eight players from the Chicago White Sox were accused of throwing the series against the Reds and were banned from Major League Baseball. (“History files-Chicago Black Sox”) All eight players were expelled in an attempt to save the purity of the game. The White Sox lost the opening game of the series nine to one, and then ended up losing the series five games to three. (“Black Sox Scandal”) They had won the American league pennant and were highly favored to beat the Reds in the World Series. (“Bankston, Carl. L”)
Baseball statistics are meant to be a representation of a player’s talent. Since baseball’s inception around the mid-19th century, statistics have been used to interpret the talent level of any given player, however, the statistics that have been traditionally used to define talent are often times misleading. At a fundamental level, baseball, like any game, is about winning. To win games, teams have to score runs; to score runs, players have to get on base any way they can. All the while, the pitcher and the defense are supposed to prevent runs from scoring. As simplistic as this view sounds, the statistics being used to evaluate individual players were extremely flawed. In an attempt to develop more specific, objective forms of statistical analysis, the idea of Sabermetrics was born. Bill James, a man who never played or coached professional baseball, is often credited as a pioneer in the field and for coining the name as homage to the Society of American Baseball Research, or SABR. Eventually, the use of Sabermetrics became widespread in the Major Leagues, the first team being the Oakland Athletics, as depicted in Moneyball. Bill James and other baseball statisticians have developed various methods of evaluating a player performance that allow for a more objective view of the game, broadly defined as Sabermetrics.
1910 to 1920 was the one of the greatest decades for Major League Baseball. Many amazing events occurred during this decade; although, some devastating and extremely sad events also occurred. Half of these years were taken up by war, even many Hall of Fame players served. This decade still ended up being a great one for Major League Baseball. From Hall of Fame greats to Negro League pitchers, this decade produced greats. The 1910’s also set up the 1920’s for amazing players too.
The World Series of 1919 was found out to be thrown by the Chicago White Sox, creating many problems within the American League. This World Series was different than many others. The 1919 World Series was played in a best-of-nine series, rather than being played in best-of-seven like all other World Series games before it. The other team involved, the Cincinnati Reds, had no idea of the scandal. The Baseball Hall of Fame states in their article “Guide to the Black Sox Scandal (American League),” Gambling was not new to baseball. There is evidence that White Sox players, in 1917, paid pitchers from the Detroit club, who beat Boston during the pennant stretch run $200 each.” This shows that the White Sox not only cheated in the 1919 World Series, but also in the 1917 season. There were 8 players involved in gambling with the 1919 World Series, including many of the league’s best players. The eight players involved included Eddie Cicotte, Oscar “Happy” Felsch, Arnold “Chick” Gandil, “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, Fred McMullin, Charles “Swede” Risberg, George “Buck” Weaver, and Claude “Lefty” Williams. These 8 players, threw the game for a cash reward from 5 separate gamblers who were involved in the scandal. Abe Attell, Bill Burns, Arnold Rothstein, Billy Maharg, and Joseph “Sport” Sullivan, were all indicted along with the players for gambling with the 1919 World Series, and was considered as a “crime against baseball
century. The Sox boasted a lineup that included three eventual Hall of Famers; Collins, Schalk
While many questions in baseball can be argued over and over without result, the question of who is the greatest Yankee is a simple one. Babe Ruth is undeniably the greatest Yankee of all time. Beyond simple being a great Yankee Rader refers to Ruth as being a “pivotal figure in establishing the greatest dynasty in baseball history, that of the New York Yankees”. Babe Ruth forever changed the game; his hitting ability inspired not just baseball players but also the nation. Beyond the numbers, we can gauge Ruth’s greatness through looking at the longevity of his fame. Even today Babe Ruth is a household name and more recognizable then any other historic baseball player. As Ruth acquired his slugging average of .847, he was able to personify the American dream.
Giants in the World Series. Babe was not a factor at all in this pitiful series
The New York Yankees lost to St. Louis in the 1926 World Series and came out in 1927 for revenge. (Geisler, 1) The Yankees opened the season on April 12th with an 8-3 victory over the Philadelphia Athletics and they never looked back. (Frommer, 5) The Yankees never fell out of first place after that first day and finished 19 games ahead of Philadelphia who won 91 games respectively. (New York Yankees, 3) An astonishing feat for today's strategic baseball moves, the '27 Yankees went all year without a single roster move. (Geisler, 1) With a tremendous team built by owner, Jacob Ruppert and General Manager, Ed Barrow, the scene was set for a big year. Certainly meeting the New York standards with a record of 110 wins and 44 losses the Yankees had many indiv...
Many people go about their lives not knowing that they have a mental illness. Some like anxiety and panic disorders are easily spotted some are not if they aren’t talked about you would never know that the person was diagnosed with anything. Some commonly known illnesses would be: ADD/ADHD (Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), OCD (Obsessive compulsive disorder), PTS (Post Traumatic Stress disorder), autism, depression, and eating disorders like bulimia and anorexia. The lesser known illnesses include: SAD (Seasonal Affective disorder), Schizophrenia, Bipolar and Personality disorders, anxiety and panic disorders. There is also an increase in dual diagnosis, in which the person is diagnosed with both a mental disorder and substance abuse (Alcohol and or prescription or non-prescription drugs). It is estimated that 26.2 percent of the American Populati...