Bruce Miles: An old formula for a new World Series

sin x dx + cash x + BA’s = Bill James’ Abstracts still have value and never should have been dumped.

A year ago, or maybe it was two, I got to thinking about an old Bill James formula from the 1980s for predicting the outcome of postseason series. James put it in one of his Baseball Abstracts. I don’t have those books anymore, but through the magic of the Internet, I was able to track down the formula. So once again, let’s have a little fun with it as the World Series between the Giants and Rangers gets set to go.

Given the explosion of sabermetrics, James’ old formula seems quaint nowadays. But I do remember James exclaiming, “The damn thing works!” in the book. I’m not sure of the methodology James used or his other rationale, but the formula seems fun enough.

...Adding it up, we have a landslide. It’s the Giants with 85 points to 24 for the Rangers.

So it will be the Giants in like four games or even fewer. Or maybe not.

Anyway, if anybody’s got the methodology James used and wants to post it here, that would be great. Either way, it’s fun stuff. Have at it.