Chasing The Storm 2051-4 Is That A Winning Streak??

[njherdfan]

Baseball, as anyone who loves the sport already knows, is a funny game. Just when you think you've seen it all, baseball finds a way to confound you. In a lot of ways, that's what's so beautiful about the sport. Every day you go to the ballpark or turn on the TV to watch a game, you might see something you've never seen before. In a tribute to the unexpected, the Seattle Storm, entering a 7 game stretch with a record of 50 wins and 91 losses, managed to reel off seven consecutive wins. Unsurprisingly, this was Seattle's longest winning streak of the season.

If two teams are totally evenly matched, Team A has a 1/128 chance of winning seven straight games. I'm not a mathematician, but when one of the teams has a record of 50 and 91, the odds are much longer. When the 7 consecutive games come against Vancouver (1 game), Portland (4 games), and Valencia (2 games), each of whom has a winning record, the odds are astronomical. Even trying to calculate them will make your computer start to overheat.

Without exaggeration, Seattle's four game sweep of Portland is likely the most surprising result of the 2051 season. Seattle won four straight one-run games, which by itself is pretty surprising. One of the wins came in extra innings. In a few weeks, it's likely that these results will be totally forgotten, as Portland makes its way to the playoffs and the Storm retreats back to Seattle to consider what its next moves are, and what it can do to be more competitive next season. It's unlikely that there's too much for Seattle to build on, either, other than hoping that its bullpen can continue to perform with some semblance of the aptitude it showed this past week. While Seattle will almost certainly return to earth in the near future, it's always good to remember that even in the midst of a truly awful season, there will always be reminders of how baseball can surprise you.

[lordtoffee]

Baseball is a strange game sometimes. The most delicious paradox is no matter how many games you watch, you still see things you haven't seen before.