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Oct 28, 2011 - As if the Cardinals didn't already have momentum going for them, and the home field in Game 7 of the 2011 World Series, there's also this:
@richardjustice
Richard Justice Home teams have won eight straight Game 7s. Last road team to win was 1979 Pirates, and typing that made me throw up in my mouth.
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I'm not sure why that made Justice throw up in his mouth, except I think he was covering the Orioles as a beat writer in the late 1970s for The Washington Post.
But are road teams at a real disadvantage in Games 7, generally?
I checked. What's happened since 1979 is anomalous. There have been 35 winner-take-all contests in the history of best-of-seven World Series, and home teams are 18-17. There has been absolutely zero advantage.
Now, you might think that something fundamental about Games 7 has changed since 1979 and you might be right ... but then you sort of need to come up with what that might actually be. And I can't really think of anything.
I think it's just a statistical fluke. Home teams won eight straight from 1982 through 2002. Visiting teams won nine of eleven from 1952 through 1968.
What's also anomalous is that we've not seen a Game 7 since 2002. That's easily the longest gap in World Series history. There weren't any winner-take-all Games 7 between 1912 and 1924, but the World Series was best-of-nine from 1919 through 1921; only the '21 Series would have gone the distance in a best-of-seven series.
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Oct 28
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It is just a fluke
The other thing that doesn’t really mean anything is also that the team that lost Game 6 is in trouble. I looked at those stats in game 7 situations and the team that lost is 17 and 18.
The biggest thing is that the more often than not the better team ends up winning. The team that is favored to win has a record of 22 and 13 in game 7.
I have an unhealthy obsession with washed out Giants prospects.
by Crazy Crabbers on Oct 28, 2011 2:45 PM EDT reply actions
DH rule? AL home teams built with the extra position player for game 7. NL home teams in game 7 have pitchers more comfortable hitting and bunting? I don’t know. Just a theory. Probably mostly an anomaly like Rob said.
by TimHagerty on Oct 28, 2011 5:43 PM EDT reply actions
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