Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Why April matters -- Part 2

The Philadelphia Inquirer had a story yesterday about Charlie Manuel saying the Phillies still had time to turn around their season. But writer Todd Zolecki produced some interesting stats:

From 1980 to 2004 - excluding the 1994 and 1981 strike seasons - there were 132 playoff teams. Just five teams (3.8 percent) were five or more games under .500 on May 15, which the Phillies were. Just six teams (4.5 percent) were seven or more games out of first place on May 15, which the Phillies were.

On the flip side, 70 of those 132 playoff teams (53 percent) were in first place on May 15.

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