Parity in baseball

by boohiss on Oct 13, 2008 2:37 PM EDT Comment 8 comments

With the Rays being in the playoffs, it occurs to me that this might be another arrow in the quiver of those who might defend baseball's parity in comparison to other professional sports. However, it also occurs to me that it might be very helpful to have some sort of actual objective measure(s) of parity to compare with other sports (like the NFL, which many consider a panacea of parity).

So, how do we measure parity? One time a person told me parity is how much a fan "feels" like their team is still in it. I suppose a poll could measure that, but I'd like something more objective: playoff appearances, playoff wins, world series appearances, world series wins, etc, which can be compared to other sports. Any thoughts?

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It seems like this has been done pretty regularly

The metric that I usually see is used is the number of different teams that have either made it to the playoffs or won the championship in a given sport over a certain period of time, and then divide that number by the total teams in the league. Baseball usually compares pretty favorably, and I believe exhibits more parity than the NFL.

by Brendanukkah on Oct 13, 2008 2:44 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

It's hard to say

since more teams make the playoffs in other sports. Baseball is at a disadvantage in that sort of comparison.

Even still, by my count 23 different franchises have made it to the playoffs since 2001. Of the seven that haven’t (Reds, Royals, Pirates, Blue Jays, Rangers, Nats, Orioles), only the Blue Jays can stake a claim at not being a poorly run organization – they have a winning record since 2001. I think you’d have a hard time arguing that any of the other teams suffer based on market forces alone.

"You never want to give up a 7-0 lead, in your rival's ballpark, that would put them in first place. Never want to do that." - Ron Darling

by Slyde on Oct 13, 2008 2:53 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The Blue Jays suffer from being in the same division as the Red Sox and Yankees

And now the Rays.

by Brendanukkah on Oct 13, 2008 3:03 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The Yankees suffer from being in the same division as the Red Sox and Rays

/Hank’d

"My wife ain't never ran and got me no pheasant." - Fistbands

by BK on Oct 13, 2008 3:08 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

And playing in National League stadiums where their pitchers are forced to run the bases.

by Brendanukkah on Oct 13, 2008 3:10 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I for one agree with him

I think that from now on the Yankees should play all of their interleague games at the New Yankee Stadium and get to pick the teams they compete with in their division.
/bubbafan’d

//just kidding

"My wife ain't never ran and got me no pheasant." - Fistbands

by BK on Oct 13, 2008 3:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

They should let more teams into the playoffs

that is to say, they should let every team with a better record than the Yankees and including the Yankees into the playoffs every year.

"You never want to give up a 7-0 lead, in your rival's ballpark, that would put them in first place. Never want to do that." - Ron Darling

by Slyde on Oct 13, 2008 3:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think football can have more random things happen in a 16-game season

with ~10% of the games of baseball, there’s a better chance a “WTF?” season. I know that’s the theory against the expansion of MLB playoffs: the regular season weeds out the teams enough.

...because there's already someone posing as Jacob Brumfield

by Cy Schourek on Oct 13, 2008 7:26 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs