I'd just like to thank those in the media that doubted the Twins' chances of holding onto the division these past couple weeks. It seems like nothing motivates the Twins more than people starting to think the Offensive Cartoons or the Bitch Sox are a better team than them.

Whatever happened to Magic Number Guy?

I saw the magic number guy at the Dome the other day. At that time, the number was 40, if I recall. I'm not going to attempt to do math and figure out what that makes it now, but it's gone down by at least five or six, because it was 40 during the second game of the Yankees series.

When Rad Brad and the Twins complete the sweep Sunday, the magic number count can really get started.

Magic Number is 34, discounting any major fluctuations in the space-time continuum which alters math as we know it...

The only thing better than seeing the BitchSoxs get beat down is seeing the Offensive Toons take it like so many cars at the Demo Derby. And you know what, its just as fun to watch.

The really funny thing is that the Twins can push the Whine Sox back into second place by continuing to bury the Indians.

Hawk,

Must be a smudge on the chalkboard. Magic Number = 35.

For those who don't care to do their own figuring, the Magic Number is listed in the standings, next to the GB column, at the MLB.com site (called the 'Elimination Number' there). Since the White Sox are actually closest to the Twins in the Loss column, the Magic Number to eliminate them is one higher (35) than it is to erase Cleveland (34).

"I'd just like to thank those in the media that doubted..."

Uh, Will, I recall reading some somewhat frenzied and fearful posts in this space earlier this month that sounded a tad like the writers were doubying the HometownNine. Let's not turn a time of great delight into yet another reason to bash the media.

In the Latin, one might say: "Nos nuto, nos pouted, Indians got iter itineris."

(We doubted, we pouted, the Indians got routed.)

Unus.) I did not partake in any sort of fearful or frenzied posting regarding any sort of collapse.

Duo.) I am also not looking for an opportunity to bash the media. It was pretty much a statement of how many writers and analysts quickly jumped ship, providing the doubt that seems to fuel the Twins. It was as much a reference to past seasons as it was to these recent weeks.

Methinks you took it a bit more seriously than it was intended.

The best part of that is the fact that the Bitch Sox are at an even .500 LOL!

Poor Stephen Hawkings! First the Black Hole thing and now this!

Fox showed the Magic Number Guy's sign during today's game, but no Magic Number Guy. Weird. I'll never forget being at the game where we clinched the division last year (about an hour after the Twins game ended; we needed the Bitch Sox and the Royals to lose, so they had the Bitch Sox on one Jumbotron and the Royals on the other. I, by pure luck, had seats exactly inbetween both Jumbotrons on the lower level, about fifteen rows up) and watching Magic Number Guy and his lackeys throw confetti on the sign as MNG flipped it to 0. Among the greatest moments of my life.

Dear frightwig,

So this has something to do with the fact that the BitchSox have played only 120 games so far and we have played 122?

I have been going by the rules listed on the MLB site which state:
E# indicates the Elimination Number, which is the combined number of wins (by the first place team) and losses (by the trailing team) that will eliminate the trailing team from winning the division.
The Elimination Number for a particular team is determined by adding their number of losses to the number of wins for the team leading the division, and subtracting that total from 163. The Elimination Number for the second place team is the "Magic Number" for the first place team.
"E" indicates that the team has been eliminated from winning the division.

So I was going by the number 34 as well.

bubblemint

Alas, the magic number is not between the first place team and the team with the fewest losses, but between the first place team and the second place team. Theoretically, the Bitch Sox, being a .500 team, will still be a .500 team by the time they get to 61 losses, which means they will be 61 - 61, and still in third place. Losses are important for judging teams above .500 because they are at a premium (i.e., you should assume that a over-.500 team will win more than they lose). For determing the last place team, you should go by wins, because those come more rarely. For an overly mediocre team like Chicago, well, they are in their own black hole, and should only be considered once they break the laws of Hawking-physics and escape, which, I predict, will never happen.

And please visit my esteemed colleague Stephen Wolfram's website for more about the Magic Number:

http://mathworld.wolfram.com/MagicNumber.html

Quod erat demonstrandum, et omne illud jazzum,

Stevie Hawking

You see? This is why I said I was not going to do math.

Will,

There are 10,001 real reasons to tweak the media, starting with expanded basic cable and all that comes with it. : )

FYI - M#G is here and has his board set at 35! The 'Toons are here too - I'm not sure WHAT their magic number is, but is NOT 2004.

Now, time to watch the boys erase those ugly 'Toons!

Dave

Well, Bradke and his Amazing Friends just killed the Offensive Cartoons again. So what's our magic number now?

By my calculations [163 - (# of Twins wins + # of 2nd place teams losses)] or 163-(69+62), our magic number should be 32.

I too saw M#G at the 'dome and thought his math was off, giving us a magic number of 34 at games end. Is this really that complicated?

Math complicated. Yep. Makes my head hurt, but I'll play through the pain and try to explain anyway.

It's not always about who's in 2nd, but the amount of losses a team has. The Bitch Sox have played fewer games and have fewer losses than the Toons.

So:

Twins Magic Number vs. Toons
163-69-62 = 32

Twins Magic Number vs. Bitch Sox
163-69-60 = 34

I happened to catch a few minutes of the Bitch Sox telecast on Extra Innings this past week. Kenny Williams was in the booth and Hawk Harrelson was going on and on about how Chicago can still win the division, even with Hurt hurt and Magglio hurt, because guys like Aaron Rowand and Jon Garland will step it up and yadda, yadda, yadda. What made the moment is that the Tigers were in the midst of scoring three or four runs against the Bitch Sox during this monologue. Hawk would say something and a Tigger would punctuate the sentence with a base hit, but he never wavered from being Joe Positive. It was hilarious.

If y'all want to get into the fine details, there is a Magic Number for eliminating every team in the division: it's 17 to eliminate Kansas City, 29 to eliminate Detroit, and 32 to eliminate Cleveland. If all you care about is the team currently in 2nd place by percentage points, you might hang your hat on that Magic 32.

However, the Magic Number Guy at the dome clearly is counting down to when the Twins will officially clinch the division--which means eliminating ALL teams in the chase. That would still leave Chicago, and the Magic Number to send them packing is presently at 34.

Maybe you should add the Tigers in there as well... if for no other reason to show how bad the Bitch Sox/Indians are. Isn't Detroit only 2 or 3 games behind Chicago?

Batgirl's totally rooting for the Tigers to take second in the division.