Cubs, Sox Out: Bye-Bye, By The Numbers

Last week, I offered this equation: October + Baseball=By the Numbers, as I reprised my research-and-writing role for the Daily Herald.

I was hoping for a month filled with Chicago baseball. With both the Cubs and White Sox in the post-season, and the Cubs sporting the best record in the National League during the regular season, I figured I'd be wearing out my calculator.

Alas, both teams flopped--especially the Cubbies, who were swept for the second straight year. You know it doesn't bode well when I'm spending an inordinate amount of time researching Chicago players' errors, strikeouts at the plate, and streaks such as the last time a certain slugger (yeah, you, Alfonso Soriano) had homered.

For the By the Numbers' body of evidence of Chicago baseball woes, see:

White Sox, Game 1 preview

White Sox, Game 1

White Sox, Game 2

White Sox, Game 3

Cubs, Game 1

Cubs, Game 2

Cubs, preview Game 3

October + Baseball=By the Numbers

It's October and Chicago playoff baseball is under way, so that means my statistical hat is fit snugly atop my head.

Allowing my numerical passions to run wild again is Daily Herald sports editor Tom Quinlan, who began publishing my "By The Numbers" baseball blurbs on the Cubs and White Sox in today's newspaper.

My numbers-related writing dates back to August 1997, toward the end of my eight years at The Courier News in Elgin, Ill., when I began writing a weekly "By the Numbers" column. It was later syndicated by Copley News Service, and served as the springboard for my numeracy training program called "Go Figure: Making Numbers Count."

Along the way, I had a stats column for Sports Illustrated For Kids and developed the Home Run Power Ratio, an inflation index for home runs.

This is the fourth time over the past six Octobers that the Daily Herald has allowed me to be a part of their baseball post-season coverage.

On the Herald's website, you can read the first round of figures I came up with in connection with the Chicago Cubs and their Game 1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, as well as previewing the Chicago White Sox's Game 1 clash with the Tampa Bay Rays this afternoon.

Why I Always Bring A Camera To Chicago

I took my children to downtown Chicago today. On the "el," I applied too much sunscreen around Zach's eyes, resulting in no small amount of stress as he expressed displeasure in a way that only he can.

We then walked at least two miles as we meandered from spot to spot, never quite having The Experience that I'd hoped for. Then, on our way back to the "el," we came upon this scene--a man doing what I call a Funky Freeze routine.

It was time to get out the digital camera/video: