Which playoff teams have what it takes to win it all? - John Donovan - SI.com

Links (3)

Baseball Today: Thursday, October 2
Published 10/2/2008 by Art Martone (amartone@projo.com) at Projo Sox Blog
... -- click the link to find out what it is -- concludes the Red Sox will not only beat the Angels, but win the World Series. Just one cautionary note: The BP link above refers to the 2006 postseason . . . where the "secret-sauce formula" predicted a Twins' victory over the Mets in the World Series. ...

S.I.: Donovan: Which playoff teams have what it takes to win it all?
Published 10/2/2008 at BBTF's Baseball Primer Newsblog
S.I.: Donovan: Which playoff teams have what it takes to win it all? Or as King Donovan (as Ramblin’ Jack Belicec) said..."Stop trying to rationalize everything, will ya? Let’s face it, we have a mystery on our hands!” Every time you think you have a handle on what it takes to win in baseball’s postseason, along comes, say, the 2006 Cardinals, the 1988 Dodgers or the ‘87 Twins, to prove there’s no sure-fire way to pick a World Series winner. Success in the playoffs, in many ways, comes down to a roll of the dice. Luck will play as big a part in the next three weeks as a clever ...

How can we “predict” which teams will do well in the post-season?
Published 10/3/2008 by mgl (mgl8@cox.net) at THE BOOK--Playing The Percentages In Baseball
Here is an SI,com article by John Donovan (I don’t know who he is).  In it, he says: Still, there are smart ways to pick the teams that will fare best in the playoffs. Nate Silver and the hard-thinkers over at Baseball Prospectus have looked at tons of data and come up with a formula that identifies the three main characteristics of a successful playoff team. They are: 1. Pitchers that strike out batters. 2. A stud closer. 3. A good defense. You might notice there’s no mention of home runs or the ...