The Cubs have rocketed to an 8-1 start. The team is scoring approximately 7 runs per game. Cub hitters have the patience of Jobe; opposing starters have thrown an average 88 pitches in 4 2/3 innings of work. The Cubs lead the league in walks.
Baseball is a stats driven sport.
But, as I have posted in the past, one worm in the ear hole is announcers, broadcasters or fans joyfully saying the today the Cubs are "7 games above .500."
Technically, that it is an untrue statement. But in the context of baseball slang, 7 games above .500 means "7 more victories than losses."
The Cubs have played 9 games. If they had evenly split their contests (thus having a fifty percent winning percentage), the team would be 4.5-4.5. That is the .500 mark: 4.5 victories. The Cubs are at 8 victories. So, the Cubs are actually only 3.5 games above the .500 mark.
But that does not have the same impact of having 7 more wins than losses.
Another way to look at it is that the Cubs are "on pace" to win 144 games. Eight wins divided by 9 games multiplied by 162 game season equals 144 games. Or for the blackboard inclined:
8 x
____ = _____
9 162
Solve for x.
The 1906 Cubs won 116 games (a .763 winning percentage) with a shorter regular season. To compare with the current team, the 1906 Cubs would have won 124 games in a 162-game season. So, the Cubs are on pace to shatter the major league record for victories in a season. No one really believes the Cubs will win 144 games this season.
But if the Cubs finish as they started by being 7 games over .500, then the final record would be have 88 victories which would be a disappointing 9 less victories than the 2015 campaign. That is a 9.3 percent decline in performance year over year. So as impressive the Cubs start has been this season, it is still not as well as the 2015 team's finish of being 16 games over .500.
