I'm having one of those days where I just want to redefine a lot of things. That is now spilling over to this blog, so bear with me for a few paragraphs as I walk you through the process. A little history first - this site began as The Football Professor...I think...or was it The Science of Football? I honestly can't remember back to 2005. At some point it became TSOF and then it evolved into The Science of Winning...The Blog because I ... Read More

We are oh-so-close to the MLB All Star Break, a time that brings back fond memories of my childhood. Growing up near Baltimore I was a big fan of the O's and of course Cal Ripken, Jr. and I'll never forget his final All Star Game. The halfway point of the season is a great time to recap what's happened already and also what I think will happen in the second half of the year. I'm ashamed to admit that I stopped recording ... Read More

It took a little while to find the time, but I've successfully analyzed Major League Baseball using our Distribution of Power formula. If you've been reading this blog for a while you'll know that we've used this formula to analyze football already so it was naturally the next step to apply it to baseball. For those of you who don't know what it is (or you just need a refresher) the formula is as follows: The formula was originally created as part of the ... Read More

I've been blogging since 2005, quite a bit longer than some of the other bloggers out there, and if that makes me one of the sports blogging fogies then I'll happily admit that this post may come across as a little senile and bitter-as-your-toothless-grandpa-ish. First of all, I haven't found a chronology of sports blogs so here's what I've dug up in the last five minutes: 2004 - March: Mr. Irrelevant; The Hardball Times 2004 - November: Can't Stop the Bleeding 2005 - January: Free Darko 2005 ... Read More

This week, along with the obligatory Power Rankings, we'll talk about some of the teams that had fast or slow starts and see where they stand as they get towards their 25th games of the year. Let's get straight to the rankings. Chicago still leads the American League, but they're 2-3 in their last five games. Oakland has snuck into second place with a couple of big wins but I wouldn't expect them to maintain that level of play much longer. The rest of ... Read More

Big news everybody: it's our first ever regular column about baseball! In the past I've brought you Power Rankings and some sporadic commentary, but now you can count on Dojis in the Dugout several times a week to satisfy your need for technical MLB analysis. Click here to find out what exactly a doji is anyway. Today's post includes the latest Power Rankings and a little bit about one-run games and how they've affected teams this season. I don't think anyone saw the Chicago ... Read More

The biggest story this week has been team performance in 1-run games. A number of surprise teams have performed well in these games while several should-be-contenders are mired in mediocrity just because they can't win close contests. Here's a quick snapshot: BALTIMORE: 1st Place AL East / 8-5 / 4-1 in 1-run games PITTSBURGH: 4th Place NL Central / 7-6 / 4-1 in 1-run games FLORIDA: 1st Place NL East / 7-5 / 3-0 in 1-run games TORONTO: 3rd Place AL East / 7-6 / 1-5 ... Read More

Not too many teams on a definite trend right now. The last few days have brought a lot of inconsistency, so expect a number of teams to slump in the near future. Teams about to slump: TAMPA BAY (3-5) CHICAGO WHITE SOX (5-3) MINNESOTA (4-5) Read More

We're now roughly six games into the 2008 baseball season and the landscape of the league is rapidly fluctuating. From this point forward I'll also be keeping track of the Bulls and Bears; Bulls are the "hot" teams, Bears are the "not" teams.   BULLS: BALTIMORE (4-1): now ranked #2 in the AL for SCF (Closing factor). TORONTO (4-2): haven't trailed by more than a run in any game this year. CHICAGO WHITE SOX (4-2): four straight perfect Close wins (Close = Highest Lead). MILWAUKEE (5-1): have only ... Read More

This year's first Power Ranking may seem a little odd, but remember that we've only seen about three games from each team. The Power Rankings are calculated by examining the ratio of a team's average high (lead) and low (deficit) to its average close (margin of victory or loss). Stability and consistency are measured as SCF (Season Closing Factor) and SSF (Season Stability Factor), which can be used to estimate wins and losses. Read More

TFP is entering its third full season of analysis in 2008 and to mark this achievement we're looking for some new authors to help contribute. I'm not looking for anything too serious - this won't be a paying gig until the site actually makes some money - but if you're willing to volunteer a column a week (or more) send me an email (footballprofessor@gmail.com) with the following included: Your name Two writing samples Three reasons why you want to write for TFP Candidates will be notified ... Read More