There's No Magic To Figuring Out A Magic Number

Some of you die-hard readers (and if you're reading ME, then you are definitely dying hard) have asked me how the "magic number" -- that figure that shows everyone how close a team is to clinching their division -- is calculated.

Simple, really.

1. Determine how many unplayed games the leader has remaining in the season.
2. Add one.
3. Subtract the difference between the leader's losses and the next best team's losses.
4. The result is the "magic number."

Let's figure it out for the Tigers:

1. They have 58 games remaining
2. Add one, so we're working from 59
3. They have eight fewer losses than the White Sox (59-8)
4. The Tigers' magic number this morning is 51

That means that any combination of Tigers wins and White Sox losses equaling 51 clinches the division for our guys.

Obviously, magic numbers don't get bantied about until September, usually.

But not here.

At WHYGJG, I will post, to the right in that blue box, the Tigers' magic number every day. It looks like a poll, but it's not. But if you would like to "vote", to show me how many folks are getting into this magic number thing, I'd appreciate it. The "poll" format was just the simplest way I knew of creating a "banner" -- being as non-web design savvy as I am.