I was looking at the standings and a couple of teams had a magic number. I was wondering what exactly does it stand for? Is it the number of wins needed to win the division?
2007-09-23 01:07:17 · 8 answers · asked by binreddy 5 in Sports ➔ Baseball
The magic number is the number of wins by the first place team, combined with the number of losses by the second place team, that will clinch the division for the first place team.
To calculate the magic number, figure out how many wins the second place team could possibly get, and how many wins the first place team would need to beat that.
The Cubs are 82-73 and the Brewers are 79-75. Milwaukee has 8 games left, so they could possilbly win 87 games. So if the Cubs would get to 88 wins, they would win the divsion no matter what. Since they have 82 wins now the magic number is 6.
That doesn't necessarily mean the Cubs have to win 88 games to win the division. The magic number would be reduced by one for every Cubs win or Brewers loss. If the Cubs lose today, the magic number would still go down by one if the Brewers lose as well. That's because then the Brewers would only be able to reach 86 wins instead of 87, and the Cubs could then clinch with 87 wins instead of 88, and subtracting the 82 wins the Cubs already have gives a magic number of 5.
The Cubs and Brewers don't have any games left against each other, but if they did, and the Cubs won, the magic number would go down by 2 because it would be both a Cubs win and a Brewers loss.
When the magic number reaches zero, the team in first has clinched the division. The wild card leaders also have magic numbers, and of course it works the same for that race as it does for the divisional races.
2007-09-23 02:17:43 · answer #1 · answered by bencas9900 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
No. A magic number is a number which represents the combination of one team's wins and another team's losses for a certain team to clinch a postseason spot.
Example:
Los Angeles Dodgers 100 wins, 55 losses (not even close to this year, but who cares?)
San Diego Padres 95 wins, 60 losses
Both teams have played 155 games, leaving 7 games left in the season. The Dodgers' magic number to win the division is 3, so any combination of Dodgers' wins or Padres' losses equal to 3 guarantees the Dodgers a playoff spot.
2007-09-23 18:56:46 · answer #2 · answered by dude_in_disguise2004 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Magic numbers are the number of games a team needs to wina division or clinch a wild card spot to get into the playoffs. That means a combination of wins by the team in the lead or losses by the team behind them.
2007-09-23 06:24:10 · answer #3 · answered by DYankeeFan 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
a magic number is a number that the 1st place team needs in wins or the 2nd place needs in losses in order for the first place team to win the divison.
e.g. the indians and tigers. the magic number was at 5 just a few days ago. then the indians won and the tigers lost, so it went down to three.
basicly its how many games they need to win to guaruntee a playoff spot.
pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease give me 10 points i really would appreciate it, so i will be ur fan.
2007-09-23 02:25:29 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
a magic number is a number that the 1st place team needs in wins or the 2nd place needs in losses in order for the first place team to win the divison.
e.g. the indians and tigers. the magic number was at 5 just a few days ago. then the indians won and the tigers lost, so it went down to three.
basicly its how many games they need to win to guaruntee a playoff spot.
2007-09-23 02:03:34 · answer #5 · answered by samuel r. 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It relates to the number of wins for the lfirst place team combined with the number of losses for the second place team.
Long explanation here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_number_%28sports%29
2007-09-23 01:13:05 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
It is a number that when I pull the trigger my ex boss disappears
2007-09-23 01:49:20 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
Sorry.
2007-09-23 01:15:06 · answer #8 · answered by ehasan4u36 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋