“Meh, these games don’t matter as much, talk to me in June when the games really matter.”
In my experience this is a familiar phrase when it comes to baseball fans talking about their team and any early season struggles. But do these games really matter? The answer is yes. But more so than you think.
Let us take a look at the last 20 World Series winners, unsurprisingly their end of season record is above .500. But how did they do during the months of April and May? (There are a few occasions when there one or two results for March, but I’m going to ignoring them.)
Once, once, in the last 20 World Series has a team left May with a record below .500 and then gone on to win it all. Once.
So the next time someone tells you to “talk to them come June time” about results and how its going, remind them, that unless your team gets off to an above .500 start, you are highly, highly, unlikely to win it all. There we go, I’ve pretty much spoiled everyones baseball watching come June time.
You’re welcome.