4 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

How big of an outlier is a team that has lost 324 games in the last 3 years being in a playoff position?

How many 84 win teams have made the playoffs?

1 minute ago, Bonemer, I Hardly Know Her said:

How many 84 win teams have made the playoffs?

All of them that were in first place.

3 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

How big of an outlier is a team that has lost 324 games in the last 3 years being in a playoff position?

The Orioles did this just a few years ago. They lost 333 games the 3 (full) seasons before jumping to basically the same pace we’re at right now.

3 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

How big of an outlier is a team that has lost 324 games in the last 3 years being in a playoff position?

The 2011, 2012, and 2013 Astros lost 324 games. The 2014 team wasn't great but markedly improved. The 2015 team made it to the LDS and lost.

The 2012, 2013 and 2014 Cubs lost 286 games then made it to and lost the LCS the next year.

The 2017, 2018 and 2019 White Sox lost 284 games then made it to the Wild Card the next year and lost.

I don't think the 2026 White Sox are an outlier at all, given the statistical proof above and that year, rebuilds when done right are proven to lead to successful seasons. And that's cherry picked examples in this century alone.

I know you're finding it ridiculous that we are all pondering this possibility, but this ain't the gotcha you think it is.

Edited 7 hours ago7 hr by Southwest Sider

7 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

All of them that were in first place.

How many is that?

16 minutes ago, Southwest Sider said:

The 2011, 2012, and 2013 Astros lost 324 games. The 2014 team wasn't great but markedly improved. The 2015 team made it to the LDS and lost.

The 2012, 2013 and 2014 Cubs lost 286 games then made it to and lost the LCS the next year.

The 2017, 2018 and 2019 White Sox lost 284 games then made it to the Wild Card the next year and lost.

I don't think the 2026 White Sox are an outlier at all, given the statistical proof above and that year, rebuilds when done right are proven to lead to successful seasons. And that's cherry picked examples in this century alone.

I know you're finding it ridiculous that we are all pondering this possibility, but this ain't the gotcha you think it is.

2013 Red Sox went from a 69 win team to World Series champs in a single season. This is easy

49 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

You think a playoff pace is in character for a team that has averaged 108 losses a season for the last 3 years?

Doggy, you're the only one surprised by this

Strange thread though. Giving 'Mitch McConnell is actually dead' vibes.

Edited 6 hours ago6 hr by nrockway

1 hour ago, Lukakke Appling said:

The Orioles did this just a few years ago. They lost 333 games the 3 (full) seasons before jumping to basically the same pace we’re at right now.

So 1 team in MLB history. Sounds like cheating.

1 hour ago, nrockway said:

Doggy, you're the only one surprised by this

Strange thread though. Giving 'Mitch McConnell is actually dead' vibes.

That's my whole point. This whole thread is people making a conspiracy out of the Red Sox being extremely hot.

20 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

That's my whole point. This whole thread is people making a conspiracy out of the Red Sox being extremely hot.

Go to the original post, not about being extremely hot, about seemingly knowing what every pitch coming their way was.

35 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

So 1 team in MLB history. Sounds like cheating.

Being obtuse doesn’t make your arguments stronger. It just makes you look like an ass.

5 minutes ago, Lukakke Appling said:

Being obtuse doesn’t make your arguments stronger. It just makes you look like an ass.

Neither does pretending the Red Sox are on some never before achieved without cheating stretch.

If your argument for the Red Sox s%*# isn't fishy is, "well here's another rare thing!"

Then you're not making any point at all.

Just now, southsider2k5 said:

Neither does pretending the Red Sox are on some never before achieved without cheating stretch.

I have never once said anything about the Red Sox cheating, I just answered your question with a recent example.

1 minute ago, Bonemer, I Hardly Know Her said:

If your argument for the Red Sox s%*# isn't fishy is, "well here's another rare thing!"

Then you're not making any point at all.

Thank you. Stringing together rare coincidence and turning it into conspiracy theory is utterly pointless. You do get it.

2 hours ago, Bonemer, I Hardly Know Her said:

If your argument for the Red Sox s%*# isn't fishy is, "well here's another rare thing!"

Then you're not making any point at all.

my argument is that the law of averages is undefeated. the red sox weren't actually a sub .500 team and Tristan Peters isn't actually an .800 ops hitter.

8 minutes ago, nrockway said:

my argument is that the law of averages is undefeated. the red sox weren't actually a sub .500 team and Tristan Peters isn't actually an .800 ops hitter.

Yeah, when an insane burst of production happens, it's most probably regression to the mean. When Brady Anderson hits 50 HRs after never having cleared 21, that makes you go "hmmmm". It's not a conspiracy theory to wonder. It's weird when the attention junkies rise up and demand everybody prove that games that end in a victory weren't the result of cheating.

2 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

Yeah, when an insane burst of production happens, it's most probably regression to the mean. When Brady Anderson hits 50 HRs after never having cleared 21, that makes you go "hmmmm". It's not a conspiracy theory to wonder. It's weird when the attention junkies rise up and demand everybody prove that games that end in a victory weren't the result of cheating.

Yeah maybe there's something suspicious but their stretch seems too good to be a result of cheating. I thought it turned out that the trashcan Astros were hitting better on the road anyway but I might be misremembering.