Junk Stat of the Day

Here's a completely useless stat to measure a team's season. It gives credit for regular season wins and postseason wins, with some extra credit for the postseason.

1) take regular season wins over 80 (theory being a 79 win team is a drag to root for, and winning only 70, or 60, doesn't hurt any more - and actually a team worse than that provides comic value to numb the pain)
2) multiply division series wins by 2
3) League championship series wins by 3
4) World Series wins by 4

So, who's had more success over the past decade in the West, Angels or A's? I came up with the method before looking at team records, so I'm trying to be unbiased here, though I obviously have a preference. The A's had two 100 win seasons, and did win one playoff series, so they have some accomplishments to be proud of. That the Angels succeeded in winning the big one is really what puts them in the discussion.

From 2000-2006 the A's scored 15, 26, 27, 20, 11, 8 & 19, a seven year run. Angels from 2002-2007 score 49, 0, 12, 24, 9, & 14. For a 6 year run that's 108 points. For the A's, their best 6 year run is 111 (2001-2006) and they are at 107 for 2000-2005. Pretty close.

Angels can top the A's on a 7 year run by winning the division with over 90 wins, getting past the first round, and not getting swept in the ALCS. Of course, they can also extend the run for who knows how long. For the A's, add in 1999 (7 points) and they have a solid 8 year run, but anything they do past 2008 will be a different team. Call their 1999-2006 run the Chavez-Zito A's (though Zito didn't start until 2000). The Angels are working on extending the Anderson-Figgins-K-Rod-Lackey-Shields reign.