EvanJ
05-24-07, 09:16 PM
http://baseballanalysts.com/archives/2007/05/the_value_of_th.php was linked to in a different topic and says "Research has repeatedly shown that in the majority of Major League Baseball games, the winning team scores more runs in one inning than the losing team does in the entire game." The following data from every Sunday game this season evaluates that claim (I used one day of the week because I wanted a significant sample but not every game):
99 games played
In 29 games, the winning team's biggest inning had less runs than the losing team scored.
In 32 games, the winning team's biggest inning had the same amount of runs as the losing team scored.
In 38 games, the winning team's biggest inning had more runs than the losing team scored.
Since the quote said "more" as opposed to "greater than or equal to" or "at least as many," I reject the claim since it is true for less than 40 percent of the time for the data.
99 games played
In 29 games, the winning team's biggest inning had less runs than the losing team scored.
In 32 games, the winning team's biggest inning had the same amount of runs as the losing team scored.
In 38 games, the winning team's biggest inning had more runs than the losing team scored.
Since the quote said "more" as opposed to "greater than or equal to" or "at least as many," I reject the claim since it is true for less than 40 percent of the time for the data.