Brooklyn State of Mind: The Curious Case of The Robins and 1 Run Games (2059.8)

[lordtoffee]

Though the Robins are near the bottom of the league in most categories, there is one that they are near the top for some unexplained reason. If you look at the BBA record in 1 run games, the Robins sit second in the Johnson League behind Charm City. When looking at the BBA as a whole, only Portland in the Frick League has more wins in 1 score games. This is very much a "one of those things is not like the others" stat, since Portland and Charm City are both division leaders and are going to be strong come playoff time. The Robins are sadly not playoff contenders, but that is a story for another day.

What is very strange is that the Robins have won 12 games decided by a single run since the start of May. In that time period, the Robins have won 17 games in total. As the late great Bobby Bowden once said at a coaching clinic, you build a program by losing big, losing close, winning close, and winning big. The Robins have mastered the losing big stage this year, and have won and lost some close games. To make this run of close games even more odd, the Robins won 3 of the 4 games in Brooklyn against Las Vegas by a single run. I've never seen anything like this in the BBA in my time here. The Robins don't have a great pitching staff by any means, and the offense is near the bottom of the ranks. This must be a fluke, but winning over half of your victories in total by 1 run suggests that the Robins have a skill in close games that must be kept in mind. After all, baseball is a sport that confounds us all.