Sports – FiveThirtyEight — St Louis Cardinals RSS



Playoff Umps Are Screwing Up A Tenth Of Balls And Strikes

Nothing preoccupies players, managers and fans during the postseason like an umpire’s strike-zone judgment. While there’s plenty of outcry over balls and strikes in the regular season too, the stakes are much higher — and the complaints correspondingly louder — when an entire championship can hang on one errant call. But although this year’s playoffs […]

Continue reading



Playoff Umps Are Screwing Up A Tenth Of Balls And Strikes

Nothing preoccupies players, managers and fans during the postseason like an umpire’s strike-zone judgment. While there’s plenty of outcry over balls and strikes in the regular season too, the stakes are much higher — and the complaints correspondingly louder — when an entire championship can hang on one errant call. But although this year’s playoffs […]

Continue reading



The Wild-Card Winner Is The Team To Beat In The NL

On Tuesday, I previewed the American League playoffs, and today, it’s the National League’s turn. Compared to the AL, the NL playoffs are much more chaotic. Judging by the teams’ run differentials, there are no clear tiers, as there were in the AL. The preseason consensus pick for NL champion (the Washington Nationals) didn’t make […]

Continue reading



The Wild-Card Winner Is The Team To Beat In The NL

On Tuesday, I previewed the American League playoffs, and today, it’s the National League’s turn. Compared to the AL, the NL playoffs are much more chaotic. Judging by the teams’ run differentials, there are no clear tiers, as there were in the AL. The preseason consensus pick for NL champion (the Washington Nationals) didn’t make […]

Continue reading