The Magic Number

So I'm watching the bottom of the eighth, the Twins trail 8-6 and I'm anticipating the fifth straight loss for the Twins. On my "to do" list for the day is to prepare some things in the unlikely event of a Twins postseason appearance. So I send out an email and end it with....

Maybe talking about this will change the team's luck.

Twins win, 11-6.

Is it that easy? Frankly, I've been trying just about everything else - different shirts, different hats, watching, not watching, watching on different TVs, watching while wearing hats - even wearing hats but not while I'm watching. I've been a frantic little mouse banging my head on the walls of this Skinnerian maze in a desperate attempt for a little cheese.

Could it be that all I really needed was a little positivity?

Allright - this geek is game. Let's start with the most positive thing I can think of AND the one thing this pennant race has been missing - The Magic Number. We haven't had one because the Twins haven't nudged their way into first place, and usually one doesn't figure out The Magic Number until one is in first place. But it's not like one CAN'T figure out The Magic Number until one is in first place.

To figure out The Magic Number, you just figure out the maximum number of wins your closest competitor can get, and then figure out how many more games you would need to win to surpass it. In this case:

1) The White Sox have 84 wins with 10 games left to play, so they could end the season with 94 wins.

2) The Twins have 83 wins, so they would need to win 12 games.

3) The fact that the Twins only have nine games left is irrelevant - The Magic Number is still 12.

Let's start treating this like a pennant race and see what happens. The Magic Number is going up at the top of this post, and if it moves, I'll be updating it. How's that for optimism?

And since pennant races are meant to be watched with friends and strangers, tomorrow night I'm going to try and make it to the newly renovated Maxwell's to get my fall classic groove on. Hope to see you there. Look for a guy who is a Twins fan. And a geek. But he's going to be working like hell to keep it from being kinda sad. Really.