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Power-hitting (HR leading) teams rarely make playoffs


caulfield12

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The only team to top the Rangers during this era? The Chicago White Sox, who won the team homer title in 2004 and again in 2006 on the strength of Paul Konerko(notes) (41 homers) in 2004 and Jermaine Dye(notes) and Jim Thome(notes) (both with 44) in 2006. Fittingly, in that in-between year of 2005 when they didn’t win the home run title, the White Sox won the World Series.

 

Last year it was the White Sox who ended the ignominious drought of home run title teams, making the playoffs after bashing a league-leading 235 home runs. Then, of course, they lost in the first round to the Tampa Bay Rays.

 

 

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=ApFr...o&type=lgns

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The problem with that article is obvious; did the team hitting the 2nd most home runs make the playoffs? What about the 3rd? At what level do home runs go from being bad to being good? Or could it possibly be there's another related factor, like pitching? The Sox didn't lead the league in HR in 2005, but still hit 200 of them.

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QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 8, 2009 -> 04:12 PM)
The problem with that article is obvious; did the team hitting the 2nd most home runs make the playoffs? What about the 3rd? At what level do home runs go from being bad to being good? Or could it possibly be there's another related factor, like pitching? The Sox didn't lead the league in HR in 2005, but still hit 200 of them.

The Phillies finished with the second most HR in baseball last year and won the World Series. The original observation is rather pointless unless they're trying to make the argument that the stigma of finishing with the most HR somehow overwhelms a team and they crumble because of it.

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I'm not seeing the point of this article. It talks about how the Rangers were all hitting and no pitching but doesn't bother to mention the Sox were tied for the best ERA in the AL in 2005, and it's not like that was a power-starved team. Keep Frank Thomas on that team all year and they are probably 2nd in homers in the AL, and unless the author is trying to say having Frank Thomas on that offense makes them less likely to make the playoffs - which I doubt - what is he getting at?

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