from Science News Online



Week of Sept. 6, 2003; Vol. 164, No. 10

Pennant Races and Magic Numbers



Ivars Peterson



It's getting close to the end of the regular baseball season. Fanatic fans track not only which team is in first place or in position for a wild-card berth in the playoffs but also the number of games a team must win to avoid elimination.





The elimination, or "magic," number is usually defined to be the smallest number such that any combination of wins by the first-place team and losses by the second-place team guarantees that the first-place team will win the division.



Computer scientists have suggested that the usual calculation of the magic number is too simple. For example, it doesn't take into account the fact that, if the other team loses a game to a third team, the third team gains points. Whether a team is eliminated actually depends, in part, on the schedule of remaining games.



(snip)



Their Web site now provides regularly updated tallies for pennant races in major-league baseball.



So, by checking the RIOT Web site, fans can track the progress of their favorite teams into or out of the playoffs, as the numbers change day by day during the season. And they'll probably find out a team's ultimate fate sooner than if they relied on the magic numbers bandied about on sports pages of newspapers.



Well it doesn't look like it is updated yet, but should be cool to watch, said Big Rick who doesn't like baseball...



UPDATE: It's live and updated and pretty cool.