Needed: at least eight folks to vote for the winner of Contest #1 – The Best Prediction for the 2011 Season. See Below for details.
But first, some other results:
I. The wisdom of the ‘masses’ (aka ‘MillersTime Baseball Wizards’) was anything but…
Of the three top predictions made by the 44 contestants, only one came true. And that one was only partially true.
Not True: Phillies and Red Sox in the World Series
Not True: Sox will beat the Phillies in the WS.
Partially True: Nationals will improve this year to a season record of 71-91. They actually ended with a record of 80-81.
II. In Contest #6, Who Will Win the WS, there are only three folks still alive:
LL – Brewers over the Sox
TE – Cards over the Angels
TL – Rangers over the Giants
Note: The TE and TL above have already won earlier MillersTime contests, including ones this year.
Update: 10/17 – Looks as if either TE or TL will win his/her second contest of this year. Wow.
III. As for Contest #1, Make your Best Prediction for the 2011 Season, we have a number of folks who missed by a mile:
CE – O’s biggest improvement from 66-96 to 96-66, just enough to win the AL East (ed. – final 2011 record was 69-93)
RL – Mets exceed low expectations and come out top in NL East (ed. – ended 2011 in fourth place in their division, 25 games out of first)
JS – Os not in cellar (ed. – Os in cellar, 28 games out of first and 12 games behind Toronto)
DS – Manny R 30 dingers, named comeback player of year despite outlandish things he does in August (ed. – no explanation necessary here)
KG – Diamondback worst record of any team (ed. – they were first in their division with a won-loss record of 94-68)
AB – Jason Werth will hit over .300 (ed. – he hit .232)
TG – Os do better than the Nats (ed. – ha, see above)
LW – Giambi wins batting title by 15 points (ed. – who?)
On the other hand, we have 10 Wizzards who are alive in Contest #1 with their predictions. Please vote for which ONE of the ten you think made the best prediction.
Send me your choice in the Comments’ Section below or email me at samesty84@gmail.com.
Choose from these predictions:
- Phillies will have the best record in baseball (they did at 102-60)
- Sox continue their decline (they did from 90-72 to 89-73)
- Stephen Strasburg will start a game in 2011 (he started several)
- Adrian Gonzales will have more HRs and a higher BA than A-Rod, who will have more RBIs (the first two of these are correct)
- Buchholz ERA will be up by at least a full point (or more) from his 2.33 in 2010 (his ERA in 2011 ended up 3.48)
- At least one team, probably the Braves, will claim it lost the race for the playoffs because of illness (flu).
- Jeter has one last monster year before fading into obscurity, hitting .320, getting himself a big multi-year contract (ill advised as it is), gets hurt in the 2011 playoffs (a bit of truth in this one)
- Astros continue their slide in AL Central from their 2010 record of 70-92 (their 2011 record was 56-106)
- Neither the Phillies nor the Sox will be in the WS
- Jeter will get his 3000 hit
Please vote by the end of the 2011 WS. Only vote one time. And you may vote for your own prediction. You may even encourage your friends to vote.
W David Stephenson said:
I vote for #9.
Rob said:
Really, I only see #1, 5, 8, and 9 as having any degree of difficulty(or truth). #9 gets my vote as the most unlikely before the season started, and therefore BEST PREDICTION
jere said:
#9. And I say that without having looked at the other comments first. (May be a good idea to hide them until the end, though, or do it just by e-mail. Just my suggestion.) Reason: Because it seemed a lock that at least one of those teams would be in the WS at the beginning of the season. This person bet an exacta wheel and left the top TWO favorites, at 2-1 and 4-1, out. Turns out neither was even in the top 4.
Lincer said:
I vote for number 3.
Ya gotta believe.
Jason who?
Jimmy said:
I vote #1, it is easier to predict against something happening then for it. #9 predicted that 28 teams could be in the WS at the end of the year. Great odds on that prediction
Matt said:
I won’t even vote for my own – I vote for #9.
Brian Steinbach said:
Vote for #9.
Chris Boutourline said:
If a team figurehead (Owner, manager, coach or ‘clubhouse leader’) actually said they lost because of illness I vote for #6 (couldn’t reference this one) because I can’t remember hearing this claim often. Otherwise, I vote for #1 because there were so many ways this could have failed to occur (my impression is that the Phillies stayed pretty healthy and won despite a lack of great offense).