SWC75
Bored Historian
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Sweeps
The White Sox won in a 4-0 sweep of the Astros. How humiliating for the poor Astros. But maybe not. I've always maintained that the true measure of the competitiveness of a series isn't its length but the scores of the games. The Astros lost three straight close, entertaining games, (for those who bothered to watch). Each game- and the series- could have gone either way. But it will go down in history as a sweep.
The White Sox outscored the Astros, 20-14 in the four games, which included a 14 inning game. That's an average of 1.5 runs per game. They won by 2, 1, 2 and 1 runs. How does that rate historically?
There have now been 19 World Series sweeps, (I am looking only at best of seven series: there were several best of nine series in the early days, including the one the Black Sox threw). One other- the Yankee's sweep of the 1950 Whiz Kid Phillies, in which they outscored them 11-5 in some great pitching duels, was as close as the White Sox- Astros series. The average run margin in a sweep has been 2.95 runs. The 1932 Yankees bashed the Cubs, thanks to Babe Ruth's called shot a terrific series by Lou Gehrig, 37-19, an average of 4.50 runs per game, the biggest margin ever in a sweep.
The Sox 1.5 run margin of victory is lower than 13 of the 21 five game series, 5 of the 22 six game series and 4 of the 36 seven game series, including the famous 1960 series where the Yankees outscored the Pirates by 4.0 runs per game- and lost. They Yankees were also outscored by the largest margin in a seven game series- 3.3 runs per game by Arizona in 2001. There have been 19 series in which the loser has outscored the winner, (13 seven game series and 6 six game series).
The bottom line is, the Astros have nothing to be ashamed about. They played their hearts out. They just came up short. Buzzard's Luck.
(I first did this, as you can tell, after the 2005 series. Since then there have been two sweeps: the Red Sox over the Rockies in 2007 and the Giants over the Tigers in 2012. Neither was close. The Red Sox blasted the Rockies 29-10, topping the 1932 Yankees by winning an average of 4.75 runs. The Giants outscored the Tigers, 17-6, (2.75). The average margin of sweeps thus rose to 3.01 runs per game. The Sox 1.5 run margin of victory is now lower than 18 of the 26 five game series, 6 of the 24 six game series and 9 of the 41 seven game series, including all five of the seven series played since 2005.)
The White Sox won in a 4-0 sweep of the Astros. How humiliating for the poor Astros. But maybe not. I've always maintained that the true measure of the competitiveness of a series isn't its length but the scores of the games. The Astros lost three straight close, entertaining games, (for those who bothered to watch). Each game- and the series- could have gone either way. But it will go down in history as a sweep.
The White Sox outscored the Astros, 20-14 in the four games, which included a 14 inning game. That's an average of 1.5 runs per game. They won by 2, 1, 2 and 1 runs. How does that rate historically?
There have now been 19 World Series sweeps, (I am looking only at best of seven series: there were several best of nine series in the early days, including the one the Black Sox threw). One other- the Yankee's sweep of the 1950 Whiz Kid Phillies, in which they outscored them 11-5 in some great pitching duels, was as close as the White Sox- Astros series. The average run margin in a sweep has been 2.95 runs. The 1932 Yankees bashed the Cubs, thanks to Babe Ruth's called shot a terrific series by Lou Gehrig, 37-19, an average of 4.50 runs per game, the biggest margin ever in a sweep.
The Sox 1.5 run margin of victory is lower than 13 of the 21 five game series, 5 of the 22 six game series and 4 of the 36 seven game series, including the famous 1960 series where the Yankees outscored the Pirates by 4.0 runs per game- and lost. They Yankees were also outscored by the largest margin in a seven game series- 3.3 runs per game by Arizona in 2001. There have been 19 series in which the loser has outscored the winner, (13 seven game series and 6 six game series).
The bottom line is, the Astros have nothing to be ashamed about. They played their hearts out. They just came up short. Buzzard's Luck.
(I first did this, as you can tell, after the 2005 series. Since then there have been two sweeps: the Red Sox over the Rockies in 2007 and the Giants over the Tigers in 2012. Neither was close. The Red Sox blasted the Rockies 29-10, topping the 1932 Yankees by winning an average of 4.75 runs. The Giants outscored the Tigers, 17-6, (2.75). The average margin of sweeps thus rose to 3.01 runs per game. The Sox 1.5 run margin of victory is now lower than 18 of the 26 five game series, 6 of the 24 six game series and 9 of the 41 seven game series, including all five of the seven series played since 2005.)
