Mets openers in recent years haven’t had a lot of true surprises or variations from script – either the game goes pretty much according to the script the Mets envisioned before the season, or it goes horribly wrong in a predictable way. Today, with Santana pitching well despite poor control and the Putz/Rodriguez tandem slamming the door in the 8th/9th, fell into the former category, which was nice. Magic number: 161.
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Why can’t Republicans/conservatives get their numbers correct.
Magic number is 162.
Always love the baseball stuff – the politics are a different matter. Long season but hopeful today is good omen
161 guarantees at least a tie. These days, that’s the number worth counting. Frankly the old-style magic numbers are kinda meaningless in the Wild Card age.
Sorry, don’t mean to be rude but who made up your rule that the magic number means a tie. The magic number is, as I have long understood it, the number that insure that you have a spot in the playoff – which is the goal of the team. However, even to get a wild card spot now, the magic number for that would still be 162.
If you tied for the division or the wild card would require that you win an additional game to make the playoffs which would expand the number beyond your 161.
161 more wins would guarantee a playoff appearance, since it necessarily means giving everyone else in the NL at least one loss. Now, examining 161 wins & opponent losses would be slightly more complicated and probably doesn’t guarantee more than a tie, but I’m not sure and I’m not trying to do the proof.
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Don’t mind me; my Indians just lost to the Rangers…whom Crank predicted to finish last in the AL West, below even Seattle. Yuck.
It is nice to see some power from Murphy. My fear is that he will be a Dave Magadan type – nice average, no pop.
“The magic number is, as I have long understood it, the number that insure that you have a spot in the playoff – which is the goal of the team.”
A tie gets you into the playoffs – the 1 game playoff.
In any event, with the wild card, the magic number (which is both team wins and opponent losses) is almost certainly lower than 161.
Actually my Pirates just won so their magic number is 161 since they beat a team in their dividsion.
Actually, according to RIOT standings, the Mets (and almost all of the NL East) has a 153 magic number to clinch at least a tie for 1st place at the start of play today.
RIOT takes into account schedules which the traditional magic number does not.
https://riot.ieor.berkeley.edu/~baseball/national_league.html
The Mets bullpen owes Santana several wins from last season. This was one they paid him back, since leaving with a one run lead and men on base in the sixth inning doesn’t usually lead to getting the win.
Murphy may see a few bumps along the road, but he is no David Magadan. Nor is he a Magadan type; he reminds me a little of Keith, and he reminds Keith of Pete Rose.
Magadan; I remember an exchange long ago in the booth during a Magadan at bat. McCarver noted that David was feeling for the ball, not driving through it. He asked Ralph if that approach reminded him of anyone. “A lot of minor leaguers” was Kiner’s reply.