Thanks to the Locked On Podcasting Network, your pal Sully is posting all new baseball podcasts for the relaunched show Locked On MLB.
The first episode, I discuss which fan bases have replaced Cubs, White Sox and Red Sox fans as the longest suffering in baseball and who need a World Series title the most in 2019.
Plus, I suggest a few rules that might cut down on the number of pitchers used, reduce length of games and make a little more sense than what MLB is proposing for 2019 and beyond.
It is a new season and a new edition of quantifying suffering… it is the 2019 Suffering Index.
I have created a formula for determining which fan base is suffering the most and which is suffering the least. And I have factors that include length of waiting for a World Series title, pennants, trips to the post season, having multiple recent titles, winning winner take all games and losing winner take all games.
The formula works like this:
The formula is this.
(Number of Years Since a Team’s Last World Series Title)
+ (Number of Years Since a Team’s Last Pennant ÷ 4)
+ (Number of Years Since the World Series Title BEFORE the Last one ÷ 8)
+ (Number of Years Since a Team’s Last Post Season Appearance ÷ 16)
+ (Number of Deciding or One Game Playoffs LOST since last World Series title x 10)
– (Number of Deciding or One Game Playoffs WON since last World Series title)
= THE SUFFERING INDEX TOTAL
I broke it down in this video:
This year, I made a slight change. I calculated the total for Washington to include the history of the two Senators franchises and the Nationals franchise.
I also combined the Milwaukee Braves and Brewers total for the Milwaukee fan base suffering index.
So here are the results, from most suffering to least.
1. 171.13 WASHINGTON (Senators and Nationals)
2. 143.19 CLEVELAND
3. 122.81 OAKLAND
4. 117.56 MILWAUKEE (Braves and Brewers)
5. 105.25 PITTSBURGH
6. 94.06 TEXAS
7. 74.69 ATLANTA
8. 72.31 SAN DIEGO
9. 72.00 CINCINNATI
10. 70.31 BALTIMORE
11. 63.44DETROIT
12. 59.44NEW YORK METS
13. 58.13MINNESOTA
14. 56.88 SEATTLE
15. 54.06 LOS ANGELES DODGERS
16. 40.94NEW YORK YANKEES
17. 40.31 COLORADO
18. 34.75TAMPA BAY
19. 34.25 ARIZONA
20. 34.06 TORONTO
21. 29.94 CHICAGO WHITE SOX
22. 28.88 PHILADELPHIA
23. 27.81ANAHEIM
24. 26.69 CHICAGO CUBS
25. 23.75 MIAMI
26. 19.38ST. LOUIS
27. 18.50 KANSAS CITY
28. 8.69 HOUSTON
29. 6.31 SAN FRANCISCO
30. 2.06 BOSTON
Only 3 fan bases in single digits: Houston, San Francisco and Boston. As a Red Sox fan whose favorite National League team is the Giants, I have NOTHING to complain about.
Meanwhile, one of my best listeners, Cubs Fan With an 8, posed a good question.
2018 has begun and I have calculated the Suffering Index. Once again, the Washington Nationals have screwed everything up by making it more complicated.
Wishing everyone a happy new year on this episode of Sully Baseball.
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