A Major League Baseball season is built on series. Everyone loses 50-60 games every year, and everyone wins that many, too. The success or failure of a season is built on winning series, salvaging splits, and avoiding sweeps. While certain games, like the 17-3 drubbing the Royals took in the third game this season, seem to signal disaster, especially when coupled with another 10-runs-allowed loss the next day, the truth is that the Royals split the series, and that makes the series a success.
A few years ago, I developed a roadmap to contention (defined as 90 wins) that had a basic formula:
- Win 3-game home series
- Split all even-numbered series
- Win 3-game series against lesser teams on the road
- Avoid sweeps.