Here is quick PI tip to help you enjoy opening day. (It doesn’t require a subscription, although if you want one, the PI is currently available for free.)
To find the results of every team’s opening game since 1871:
- Use the “Team Winning and Losing Streaks Analyzer“
- Change “Games in Streak” to 1.
- Set “Year” to “All Years”.
- Set “Team” to “All Teams”.
- Select “From beginning of season only ” or Set “Starting with game” 1.
The results are easily copyable into a spreadsheet.
A few of the many interesting things that you can find with this information:
- Since 1903, the team that would ultimately win the World Series won on opening day 65% of the time. Those same teams fared better in the second game of the season winning 73% of those games.
- Since 1903, teams that won their first game of the season, posted a .508 winning percentage in subsequent games. Teams that lost had a .492 winning percentage in their remaining games.
- Since 1901, the team with the biggest win in their first game was the 1955 Yankees who beat the Senators (in their second game) 19-1.
- Since 1901, the team with the worst loss in their first game was the 1912 Dodgers who lost to the Giants 18-3.
- There have been 10 opening day ties involving 19 teams (The 1933 Giant’s opener was the Dodger’s third game) since 1871. However, only 2 of those games took place after 1933. In 1965, the Cubs and Cardinals opened with an 11 inning 10-10 tie. 35 years later, the Brewers and Reds were tied at 3 through six when their game was called.
The PI Game-Finders may be a easier tools for many opening day searches (most wins in the last 10 years etc.), but the Winning and Losing Streaks Analyzer can be a valuable alternative with the added benefits of runs scored and allowed, final season record, postseason finishes and a greater range of years.
I was at that 19-1 game, the same one where Berra had the first of his 4 consecutive years with an opening day HR. It was a cool and rainy day, not much of a crowd. My friends and I had to run up and down the bleacher seats to keep warm.
I’m sure many correctly predicted that after wasting all of those runs on opening day, they couldn’t possibly win the WS that year!
Below are the final predictions as printed by the staff at Baseball Prospectus for 2012. I’m going to see how they did at the end of the year measured against Las Vegas odds.
AL East
New York Yankees
2012 (projected): 94-68
Boston Red Sox
2012 (projected): 89-73
Tampa Bay Rays
2012 (projected): 86-76
Toronto Blue Jays
2012 (projected): 76-86
Baltimore Orioles
2012 (projected): 73-89
AL Central
Detroit Tigers
2012 (projected): 87-75
Cleveland Indians
2012 (projected): 83-79
Chicago White Sox
2012 (projected): 80-82
Minnesota Twins
2012 (projected): 74-88
Kansas City Royals
2012 (projected): 68-94
AL West
2011: 96-66
Texas Rangers
2012 (projected): 93-69
Los Angeles Angels
2012 (projected): 90-72
Oakland A’s
2012 (projected): 73-89
Seattle Mariners
2012 (projected): 69-93
NL East
Philadelphia Phillies
2012 (projected): 87-75
Miami Marlins
2012 (projected): 87-75
Atlanta Braves
2012 (projected): 86-76
Washington Nationals
2012 (projected): 81-81
New York Mets
2012 (projected): 77-85
NL Central
St. Louis Cardinals
2012 (projected): 91-71
Milwaukee Brewers
2012 (projected): 88-74
Cincinnati Reds
2012 (projected): 86-76
Chicago Cubs
2012 (projected): 74-88
Pittsburgh Pirates
2012 (projected): 73-89
Houston Astros
2012 (projected): 61-101
NL West
San Francisco Giants
2012 (projected): 86-76
Arizona Diamondbacks
2012 (projected): 84-78
San Diego Padres
2012 (projected): 79-83
Colorado Rockies
2012 (projected): 79-83
Los Angeles Dodgers
2012 (projected): 77-85
Timmy, did you put a couple dollars down on any teams this year?
Looking forward to more of this feature!