Yesterday, Ritchie King and I ran the numbers on the most popular teams in the NFL, NBA, NHL, Major League Baseball and the English Premier League, according to the number of Google searches they generate. The rankings compared teams within each league. But we can also make cross-sport comparisons. What’s the most popular North American professional […]
The Boston Red Sox’s odds of reaching the playoffs peaked on Sept. 3. Following a 12-7 win against the Texas Rangers, they held a 9-game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays with 24 games to play, giving them a 99.6 percent chance of making the post-season.
The Red Sox, of course, once had a reputation for elevating improbable collapses into the routine, dealing their opponents one inside straight after another.
There was the Bucky Dent game in 1978:
The Aaron Boone game in 2003:
And there was Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, when Mookie Wilson’s grounder skirted through Billy Buckner’s legs, bringing Ray Knight around to score.
