Thursday, October 24, 2013

Past World Series Results

Exactly how good of a chance does a team have of winning the World Series if they win Game 1?  In recognition of the Red Sox winning last night, I decided to take a look at past winners and find out.  For the purposes of this, I have excluded the four World Series that were played in a best-of-nine format, so that everything is consistent.  So, here are the World Series win-loss records, and winning percentages, of teams that have:
  • Won Game 1:                              66-38 (63%)
  • Won Games 1 & 2:                      41-10 (80%)
  • Won Games 1, 2, and 3:              24-0 (100%)
  • Won Game 1, lost Game 2:          25-28 (47%)
  • Won Games 1 & 2, lost Game 3:  17-10 (63%)
  • Lead 2 games to 1 after 3:            54-26 (68%)
  • Lead 3 games to 2 after 5:            40-19 (68%)