Molly Knight and I are back — talking rule changes, talking Andrew Painter, talking Manny Machado, just talking ball. As always, I cannot more strongly recommend signing up for Molly’s Substack The Long Game, where she talks about baseball, creativity and mental health … and plenty of other things as well. She’s the best.
this was really a fun podcast - big rule changes can be a topic for lots of humour as well as fury! you two were briefly trying to come up with a name for the batter(s) who get the most time violations - I have a suggestion: ‘wastrel’ ... someone who expends resources foolishly and self-indulgently - has a nice Dickens-like ring to it
Just listened to your most recent podcast with Mike and I loved your take on fans with most despair. I actually have something along those lines called a Frustration Index. It is simply (Years since their last championship plus half the years since their last finals appearance) times the number of teams for the fanbase, minus the number of championships won plus the number of teams that moved in the last 40 years. Top five in each of the Big Four:
MLB:
1. Cleveland
2. Milwaukee
3. San Diego
4. Seattle
5. Pittsburgh
NBA
1. Atlanta
2. Denver
3. Washington
4. Portland
5. New York (yes, the Knicks)
NFL
1. Detroit
2. Minneapolis
3. New York Jets
4. Buffalo
5. Miami
(note: I don't count the previous Cleveland team with the current one, otherwise they would be #2)
we could argue about the formula BUT the very idea of seeking to calculate such an index is brilliant! frustration is the fate of fans in some many places for so many years... of course the source of rust ration can vary (thus the possibility of debating the formula components)..l thinking of the forever years it took for the Giants to win a championship in San Francisco, compounded by their three losses (1962, 1989, 2002) in the Series - maybe coming so close only to be defeated should warrant more frustration credit (versus getting credit for an appearance in the finals)? and maybe winning more than one championship in close order (again the Giants in 2010-12-14) brings about some degree of ‘future minus frustration’ as I now feel I can die happily, three championships in five years being enough to last a lifetime :;
I think I need to see the Order of Operations to totally understand your formula. But the list passes the sniff test.
In your formula, are you saying that the Atlanta Hawks fans' despair is mitigated because of the Braves winning a World Series? Or does that only impact Atlanta's overall city ranking?
It only impacts Atlanta's overall city ranking. Here is what I put on my blog a little over six years ago. I will say that I changed my mind about New Jersey, but the basic premise still remains . . .
Nice. I have something similar, where I give a city 200 points for a championship and 100 points for a runner-up. Each year back drops the championship value by about 5 points and the runner-up by about 3 points. So Dallas gets 75 points for their Super Bowl win in 1995. Boston is the current leader. Followed by LA, NY, Chicago and San Francisco.
My method doesn't adjust for number of franchises, which is debatable as a strategy.
this was really a fun podcast - big rule changes can be a topic for lots of humour as well as fury! you two were briefly trying to come up with a name for the batter(s) who get the most time violations - I have a suggestion: ‘wastrel’ ... someone who expends resources foolishly and self-indulgently - has a nice Dickens-like ring to it
Ok but we don’t get as many opportunities to boo the opposing pitcher for throwing to 1st too much.
Just listened to your most recent podcast with Mike and I loved your take on fans with most despair. I actually have something along those lines called a Frustration Index. It is simply (Years since their last championship plus half the years since their last finals appearance) times the number of teams for the fanbase, minus the number of championships won plus the number of teams that moved in the last 40 years. Top five in each of the Big Four:
MLB:
1. Cleveland
2. Milwaukee
3. San Diego
4. Seattle
5. Pittsburgh
NBA
1. Atlanta
2. Denver
3. Washington
4. Portland
5. New York (yes, the Knicks)
NFL
1. Detroit
2. Minneapolis
3. New York Jets
4. Buffalo
5. Miami
(note: I don't count the previous Cleveland team with the current one, otherwise they would be #2)
NHL
1. Winnipeg
2. Toronto
3. Buffalo
4. Vancouver
5. New York Islanders
Overall Cities
1. Minneapolis-St. Paul
2. Buffalo
3. Ottawa
4. Phoenix
5. Charlotte
we could argue about the formula BUT the very idea of seeking to calculate such an index is brilliant! frustration is the fate of fans in some many places for so many years... of course the source of rust ration can vary (thus the possibility of debating the formula components)..l thinking of the forever years it took for the Giants to win a championship in San Francisco, compounded by their three losses (1962, 1989, 2002) in the Series - maybe coming so close only to be defeated should warrant more frustration credit (versus getting credit for an appearance in the finals)? and maybe winning more than one championship in close order (again the Giants in 2010-12-14) brings about some degree of ‘future minus frustration’ as I now feel I can die happily, three championships in five years being enough to last a lifetime :;
I think I need to see the Order of Operations to totally understand your formula. But the list passes the sniff test.
In your formula, are you saying that the Atlanta Hawks fans' despair is mitigated because of the Braves winning a World Series? Or does that only impact Atlanta's overall city ranking?
And I'm open to all suggestions to make it better, so if anything comes to mind, I'm listening.
It only impacts Atlanta's overall city ranking. Here is what I put on my blog a little over six years ago. I will say that I changed my mind about New Jersey, but the basic premise still remains . . .
https://boyceofthepeople.wordpress.com/2016/12/12/the-frustration-index/
Nice. I have something similar, where I give a city 200 points for a championship and 100 points for a runner-up. Each year back drops the championship value by about 5 points and the runner-up by about 3 points. So Dallas gets 75 points for their Super Bowl win in 1995. Boston is the current leader. Followed by LA, NY, Chicago and San Francisco.
My method doesn't adjust for number of franchises, which is debatable as a strategy.
I like that!
Two slight changes to the formula; teams that relocated are multiplied times five and it only goes back 40 years, not 45 years.