Comments on: Pennant Race Visualizer

Pennant Race Visualizer

brain_drain — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 11:38:29 -0800

Baseball Race. "[A]n online application that allows you to view any Major League Baseball season, split by league or division (even wild card races), as an animated, date-by-date race between the various teams you choose."

By: jacquilynne

jacquilynne — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 11:51:39 -0800

Okay, I don't even like baseball and I think this is cool.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 11:55:29 -0800

I just watched the great '65 AL race (I won't tell you who won, but I was thrilled with the outcome as a young fan) -- what fun! Thanks for this post. (Pedantic note: When they say "any Major League Baseball season," they mean any season back to 1901, ignoring the fact that there have been major leagues back to 1876, or 1871 if you count the National Association.)

By: StarForce5

StarForce5 — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 12:30:14 -0800

Wow. Really cool idea. Best example of summarizing time-based data I've seen in a long time.

By: brain_drain

brain_drain — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 12:32:07 -0800

The last two months of the classic 1951 NL race are particularly fun to watch.

By: Rhomboid

Rhomboid — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 13:03:44 -0800

That was a neat visualization. Poor Royals.

By: hangashore

hangashore — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 13:05:27 -0800

*cries*

By: hangashore

hangashore — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 14:02:30 -0800

Okay, the '65 AL race is fun, but two years later was one of the more famous horse races ("To dream... the impossible dreeeeeammm..."). Hint - don't use the play button; advance the slider to 22 August and note the spread between the top four teams. Now, either advance it manually (with the slider) or slow down the play speed and watch the flip-flop fun! Less of a horse race and more the stumbling of blind greased pigs - the 1973 NL East (start around 1 September).

By: languagehat

languagehat — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 14:10:32 -0800

two years later was one of the more famous horse races ... slow down the play speed and watch the flip-flop fun! Oh yeah. Lots of fun. If you didn't happen to be a Twins fan. You bastard.

By: hangashore

hangashore — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 14:14:40 -0800

I was (and ever will be) an Expos fan. Punishment enough.

By: kosem

kosem — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 14:26:24 -0800

This is great. My dad will have fun reliving his childhood Senators misery!

By: Danf

Danf — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 14:47:23 -0800

The '51 race is very cruel and only sadists could enjoy it.

By: kurumi

kurumi — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 15:09:10 -0800

One of the sports sites used to offer pennant race graphs... not animated, but still a compelling view on how momentum could shift over a season. One example I did by hand was AL West, 2001, here (.gif) Seattle did very well overall, but really pulled away from the pack around game 40. The A's show their habit of starting 40-40 and finishing 60-20. Are there still pennant race graphs out there?

By: JKevinKing

JKevinKing — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 15:38:24 -0800

What a great site. Depressing for a Phillies Phan!

By: Chuckles

Chuckles — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 15:41:55 -0800

That is actually much more informative, kurumi, although possibly a little less fun. I wonder what the longest win 1 lose 1 streak is in MLB history :P

By: Chuckles

Chuckles — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 15:46:32 -0800

MATLAB Pennant Race graph generator.

By: ?!

?! — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 16:09:02 -0800

hangashore: You're not alone. I specialize in reminding Brave's fans they didn't win the East in '94.

By: escabeche

escabeche — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 18:27:26 -0800

Great post. I remember the fantastic horse race between the Orioles and the Brewers at the end of 1982, but had forgotten that the Red Sox were leading the division for most of the season, only dropping back for good in August.

By: .kobayashi.

.kobayashi. — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 19:50:21 -0800

This is absolutely brilliant. Thanks so much for the post.

By: pyramid termite

pyramid termite — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 21:14:40 -0800

Okay, the '65 AL race is fun, but two years later was one of the more famous horse races yeah, you should have been watching it at the time ... i was disappointed ... the next year, things went better ... and damn, 3 of those four teams are back at it this year

By: dw

dw — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 21:19:43 -0800

How quick people forget the 1914 NL pennant race. The Boston Braves were in last place and 15 games out of first on July 4, caught the Giants on September 2, then went out to win the division by 10+ games and the World Series.

By: rfbjames

rfbjames — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 11:34:56 -0800

The '64 race is one of the closest and great to see in this format. I only know this because of which team wins...

By: Dick Paris

Dick Paris — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 13:02:10 -0800

Love.