September 29, 2011

Epic night of baseball last night.



Nate Silver's blog on the New York Times Website brings forth a new curse emanating from a Bill Buckner themed episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm." From the day that the episode aired on September 4, 2011, the Red Sox went 6-18.

From Nate Silver:
The Red Sox had just a 0.3 percent chance of failing to make the playoffs on Sept. 3.
The Rays had just a 0.3 percent chance of coming back after trailing 7-0 with two innings to play.
The Red Sox had only about a 2 percent chance of losing their game against Baltimore, when the Orioles were down to their last strike.
The Rays had about a 2 percent chance of winning in the bottom of the 9th, with Johnson also down to his last strike.

Multiply those four probabilities together, and you get a combined probability of about one chance in 278 million of all these events coming together in quite this way.



Boston Globe on John Lackey: "Not only is he coming off the worst season a Red Sox starting pitcher has ever submitted, but he's a miserable, dim, finger-pointing, unaccountable wretch of a teammate, and those may be his good qualities. "



Carl Crawford's salary in 2011 is $14,000,000.

Boston Globe on Carl Crawford :"Carl Crawford, the player Damon helped replace in Tampa at a fraction of the cost, plays with such timidity. What has happened to that dynamic player who tormented us all those years while he was in Tampa Bay? And is he gone for good? Because right now, he's Coco Crisp with a lousy glove."