On a tip from O.K., a.s.b.s-m veteran extraordinnaire, I decided to look into a recently published book entitled, "The Baseball Astrologer" by a gentleman named John B. Holway. The book is not entirely about astrology; there are other stories of premonitions and paranormal events surrounding the game. But as an astrologer, I wanted to focus on that part exclusively, and here are some of the more interesting excerpts on the subject:
For decades, Aquarians like Ruth and Aaron were the kings of home runs, until hitters born under Pisces knocked 'em from their thrones. Pisces sluggers were later surpassed by Librans.
Capricorns have the most stolen base titles with 34. (Not surprisingly, the soon-to-be all-time stolen base leader Rickey Henderson is a Capricorn.) Pisces, a close second to Capricorn with 32 titles to its sign, has ten times as many stolen base leaders as Cancer.
Pisces also has more ERA titles than any other sign (and Pisces Kevin Brown just added another to the group). Aries is second. Geminis and Aquarians are last in ERA. Sagittarius has the best combined won-loss record and ERA, but is low in individual ERA champions. As far as strikeouts, it's no surprise that Scorpio's intensity and ability to bear down is an advantage: Scorpio produces more than one out of every five strikeout champions, compiling 50 titles. (For the skeptics out there, the odds of this have been calculated at 20 million to 1.) Aquarius is a distant second with 22 titles, and that's somewhat skewed simply because Nolan Ryan is an Aquarian.
Taurus is far ahead of any other sign as far as batting champions with 35 titles. Sagittarius is second with 27 titles.
And for what it's worth as we look to the playoffs: In 1976, Oakland had the first and only full-time paid astrologer for a major sports team.
I always respect a guy who puts his money where his mouth is, and the author did just that. Through Holway's research of 139 women's tennis champions from 1880 to 1976, he discovered that many of the champions were Librans or Sagittarians. No Aries and only one Aquarian had won a championship. The odds of this were 10 million to 1. Says Holway: "When in 1976 a statement denouncing astrology as a hoax and astrologers as charlatans was published by a group of 185 scientists, I called several, who admitted they'd never done any research on the subject and had signed the statement only because they were asked to. So I proposed a bet. I'd pay each of them $100 for every Aries and Aquarius who wins a major [women's tennis] title, and they'd pay me for every Libra and Sagittarian [who did the same]. They all turned me down. Too bad. Through 1999, I'd have made $9,000."
Remember, just because you don't believe in something doesn't make it untrue. :)
* * * * * * * * * * * *
After reading the book, I decided to do a little baseball astrology research of my own. Using currently active players, I decided to compile the All-Zodiac Team below. As you'll see, some positions I had to struggle to fill (there just aren't a whole lot of Taurus first basemen to choose from, you know) and others had an overabundance (just try cracking the Team Cancer lineup!). In some cases, I had to move a position player into a DH role to accommodate everyone. No attempt was made to make a 25-man roster, or five-man rotation, etc. I just tried to put at least one player per position, and if there was more than one, so much the better.
Team Scorpio is easily the most formidable, as one would expect from the intense and tenacious sign-look at the power in that outfield! Another water sign, Team Cancer, also has a pretty solid team, and it would be a helluva matchup between those two. Team Gemini and Team Virgo are also contenders. You'll see that some teams are not strong all-around, but rather are strong at one particular position (Team Sagittarius has an unbelieveable pitching staff, Team Leo has an outstanding relief corps) and weak in others. I think it's a toss-up between Team Cancer and Team Sagittarius for the best all-around. Team Capricorn is probably the weakest, but hey, they'd rather be managing everyone's money than playing for it, anyway.
Hope you all have some fun with this. On to the playoffs!
R.K. (Real Karen, who can spot a Pisces pitcher a mile away…)
* * * * * * * * * * * *
TEAM ARIES SP - Greg Maddux RP -- Antonio Alfonseca C - Jason Varitek, Dan Wilson, Brad Ausmus 1B - Rico Brogna 2B - Bret Boone, Fernando Vina SS - Alex Gonzalez (TOR) 3B - Travis Fryman, Scott Rolen, Adrian Beltre OF - David Justice, Brian Jordan, Jeromy Burnitz DH - Jose Cruz, Jr.
TEAM TAURUS SP - David Wells, Barry Zito, John Smoltz, Darren Dreifort RP - Turk Wendell, Kerry Ligtenberg C - Charlie O'Brien, A.J. Hinch, Mike Redmond (FLA) 1B - Ivan Cruz (PGH) 2B - Miguel Cairo, Carlos Febles SS - Omar Vizquel 3B - Chipper Jones OF - Tony Gwynn, Andruw Jones, Ben Grieve DH - John Vander Wal, Todd Greene
TEAM GEMINI SP - Kerry Wood, Bartolo Colon, Russ Ortiz, Andy Pettitte RP - Ramiro Mendoza C - Sandy Alomar, Jr., Todd Hundley 1B - Andres Galarraga, Jeff Bagwell 2B - Pokey Reese SS - Miguel Tejada 3B - Bill Spiers, Aaron Ledesma OF - Darin Erstad, Carlos Beltran, Manny Ramirez, Kenny Lofton DH - Frank Thomas
TEAM CANCER SP - Chan Ho Park, Dave Burba, Rich Ankiel, James Baldwin, Aaron Sele RP - Matt Mantei, Jeff Shaw C - Jason Kendall, Charles Johnson 1B - Carlos Delgado, Sean Casey 2B - Chuck Knoblauch, Mark Grudzielanek SS - Derek Jeter 3B - Robin Ventura OF - Jim Edmonds, Moises Alou, Greg Vaughn DH - Jose Canseco
TEAM LEO SP - Rick Reed, Roger Clemens, Alex Fernandez RP - John Wetteland, Danny Graves, Troy Percival, Billy Wagner C - Bobby Estalella 1B - Todd Helton, John Olerud 2B - Justin Baughman SS - Alex Rodriguez, Nomar Garciaparra 3B - Troy Glaus OF - Jay Buhner, Troy O'Leary, Barry Bonds DH - Bobby Higginson
TEAM VIRGO SP - Randy Johnson, Mike Hampton, Denny Neagle, Gil Meche RP - Paul Abbott, Jason Isringhausen C - Mike Piazza 1B - Jim Thome 2B - David Bell, Jose Vidro SS - Rafael Furcal 3B - Cal Ripken, Jr. OF - Bernie Williams, Tim Salmon, Albert Belle DH - Luis Gonzalez
TEAM LIBRA SP - Al Leiter, Orlando Hernandez, Pete Harnisch, Freddy Garcia RP - Trevor Hoffman, Keith Foulke, John Rocker C - Darren Fletcher, Joe Girardi 1B - Rafael Palmiero 2B - Kevin Jordan (PHI) SS - Jose Valentin 3B - Jeff Cirillo OF - Juan Gonzalez, Jeremy Giambi, Dmitri Young, Roberto Kelly DH - Mark McGwire
TEAM SCORPIO SP - Pat Hentgen, Sidney Ponson, Brad Radke, Curt Schilling, Gil Heredia RP - Armando Benitez, Arthur Rhodes, Jeff Nelson C - Javy Lopez 1B - Eric Karros, Fred McGriff 2B - Edgardo Alfonzo SS - Gold-Glove Award Winning Mets Shortstop Rey Ordonez, Gary DiSarcina 3B - Lenny Harris, Shane Halter OF - Sammy Sosa, Ken Griffey, Jr., Shawn Green, Gary Sheffield DH - Johnny Damon
TEAM SAGITTARIUS SP - Pedro Martinez, Kirk Reuter, Mike Mussina, Darryl Kile, Kevin Appier, Chuck Finley RP - Robb Nen, Mariano Rivera C - Pudge Rodriguez 1B - Mo Vaughn, Tino Martinez 2B - Craig Biggio, Jay Bell, Ray Durham SS - Walt Weiss, Hanley Frias 3B - Matt Williams, Tony Bautista OF - Larry Walker, Cliff Floyd, Jay Payton, Darryl Hamilton DH - Rickey Ledee
TEAM CAPRICORN SP - David Cone, Jeff D'Amico, Kevin Millwood, Jaret Wright, Jeff Fassero!, A.J. Burnett RP - Jay Powell, Byun-Hyung Kim C - Brian Johnson (KC) 1B - Jason Giambi 2B - Delino DeShields SS - Royce Clayton 3B - Chris Stynes, Fernando Tatis OF - Richie Sexson, Brady Anderson, Benny Agbayani, Mike Cameron DH - Edgar Martinez
TEAM AQUARIUS SP - Scott Erickson, Bobby J. Jones, Jason Schmidt, Jim Parque, Shawn Estes RP - Ugueth Urbina, Scott Williamson C - Kelly Stinnett, Mike Lieberthal 1B - Brian Daubach, Erubiel Durazo 2B - Robby Alomar SS - Neifi Perez, Alex Gonzalez (FLA) 3B - John Valentin, Phil Nevin OF - Vladimir Guerrero, Jermaine Dye, Magglio Ordonez, Brian Giles DH - Marvin Benard
TEAM PISCES SP - Kevin Brown!, Livan Hernandez, John Halama, Scott Elarton, Shane Reynolds, Ramon Martinez RP - Kazuhiro Sasaki, Scott Service C - Tom Lampkin, Benito Santiago 1B - Will Clark, J.T. Snow, Paul Konerko 2B - Jeff Kent SS - Abraham Nunez 3B - Bill Mueller, Aaron Boone OF - Steve Finley, Shannon Stewart, Matt Stairs, Raul Mondesi DH - Harold Baines, Bruce Aven
> produces more than one out of every five strikeout champions, > compiling 50 titles. (For the skeptics out there, the odds of > this have been calculated at 20 million to 1.)
Care to show us the math on this?
> And for what it's worth as we look to the playoffs: In 1976, > Oakland had the first and only full-time paid astrologer for a > major sports team.
That really helped.
After winning their division 5 straight times 71-75 and three straight World Series, in 1976 Oakland missed the playoffs, and from 1977 to 1979, they were one of the worst teams in baseball.
Through Holway's research of 139
> women's tennis champions from 1880 to 1976, he discovered that > many of the champions were Librans or Sagittarians. No Aries and > only one Aquarian had won a championship. The odds of this were > 10 million to 1.
> Scorpio >produces more than one out of every five strikeout champions, >compiling 50 titles. (For the skeptics out there, the odds of >this have been calculated at 20 million to 1.)
Thanks for the interesting info. But these odds are distorted by the prior assumption that you are calculating the rate that Scorpios are the group you are studying. At a miminum, the you need to divide by 12, because what you are really studying is what is the likelihood that any one sign would have 50 strikeout titles. Others in the group understand stats better than I do, so it may be a much lower probability that this, even.
Since there are 12 signs, one of them has to be number one. The issue is how significant it is to be number one about 20% of the time versus the 10% of the time that would clearly be random if the leader were at that level.
It's like when Hollywood Henderson won the Texas lottery, and a big pile of money. He said "I know the odds were 1 in 17 million, but what were the odds that it would be ME!"
>Scorpio >> produces more than one out of every five strikeout champions, >> compiling 50 titles. (For the skeptics out there, the odds of >> this have been calculated at 20 million to 1.)
>Care to show us the math on this?
Well, for one, it's not true. Since 1871, not including this year, I looked at the league leaders (there are 242) and ran the data. In 45 seasons, a Scorpio led the league in strikeouts, which is 19%, which is not, as RK claims, more than one out of five. (The odds of that happening, also, are not 20m to 1. If you take any random distribution of ~240 across 12 bins, the chances that one bin will get 19% ... well, it's not 20m to 1.)
And while that at first seems like 'close enough to make no odds', that's misleading -- she said 'one out of every five strikeout champions'. Let's take that to be more specifically the claim 'of all the people who have won strikeout titles, over 20% are Scorpios'.
This claim is also false: of the 118 unique strikeout champions, 17, or 14%, are Scorpios, which also is not more than one-in-five.
A more complete breakdown: Sign % by total seasons % by unique champs Aries 9 12 Taurus 8 10 Gemini 4 4 Cancer 6 9 Leo 11 11 Virgo 7 8 Libra 5 6 Scorpio 19 14 Sagittarius 5 7 Capricorn 9 7 Aquarius 9 7 Pisces 10 5
So both potential interpretations of RK's claim are provably false. My list follow, so my math can be checked. That said, I want to make this caution: there are so many stats in baseball that I am certain that if you want to look up arbitrary series of years to find some series that seems to prove that a particular sign is more dominant, I'm sure that can be done. But the fact remains that there is no evidence of causation between astrological sign and athletic performace or, more significantly, anything.
Derek, 10/2000
NAME YEAR LG BORN SO Sign "PRATT,AL" 1871 NA 19-Nov-48 34 Scorpio "MATHEWS,BOBBY" 1872 NA 21-Nov-51 55 Scorpio "MATHEWS,BOBBY" 1873 NA 21-Nov-51 75 Scorpio "RYAN,JOHNNY" 1874 NA 1-Oct-53 60 Libra "ARUNDEL,HARRY" 1875 NA 1-Feb-55 47 Aquarius "DEVLIN,JIM" 1876 N 1-Jul-49 122 Cancer "BOND,TOMMY" 1877 N 2-Apr-56 170 Aries "BOND,TOMMY" 1878 N 2-Apr-56 182 Aries "WARD,JOHN" 1879 N 3-Mar-60 239 Pisces "CORCORAN,LARRY" 1880 N 10-Aug-59 268 Leo "DERBY,GEORGE" 1881 N 6-Jul-57 212 Cancer "MULLANE,TONY" 1882 AA 20-Jan-59 170 Aquarius "RADBOURN,CHARLES" 1882 N 11-Dec-54 201 Sagittarius "KEEFE,TIM" 1883 AA 1-Jan-57 361 Capricorn "WHITNEY,JIM" 1883 N 10-Nov-57 345 Scorpio "HECKER,GUY" 1884 AA 3-Apr-56 385 Aries "DAILY,HUGH" 1884 U 1-Jul-57 483 Cancer "RADBOURN,CHARLES" 1884 N 11-Dec-54 441 Sagittarius "CLARKSON,JOHN" 1885 N 1-Jul-61 308 Cancer "MORRIS,ED" 1885 AA 29-Sep-62 298 Libra "BALDWIN,LADY" 1886 N 8-Apr-59 323 Aries "KILROY,MATT" 1886 AA 21-Jun-66 513 Cancer "CLARKSON,JOHN" 1887 N 1-Jul-61 237 Cancer "RAMSEY,TOAD" 1887 AA 8-Aug-64 355 Leo "SEWARD,ED" 1888 AA 29-Jun-67 272 Cancer "KEEFE,TIM" 1888 N 1-Jan-57 335 Capricorn "CLARKSON,JOHN" 1889 N 1-Jul-61 284 Cancer "BALDWIN,MARK" 1889 AA 29-Oct-63 368 Scorpio "RUSIE,AMOS" 1890 N 30-May-71 341 Gemini "McMAHON,SADIE" 1890 AA 19-Sep-67 291 Virgo "STIVETTS,JACK" 1891 AA 31-Mar-68 259 Aries "RUSIE,AMOS" 1891 N 30-May-71 337 Gemini "HUTCHISON,BILL" 1892 N 17-Dec-59 316 Sagittarius "RUSIE,AMOS" 1893 N 30-May-71 208 Gemini "RUSIE,AMOS" 1894 N 30-May-71 195 Gemini "RUSIE,AMOS" 1895 N 30-May-71 201 Gemini "YOUNG,CY" 1896 N 29-Mar-67 140 Aries "McJAMES,DOC" 1897 N 27-Aug-73 156 Virgo "SEYMOUR,CY" 1898 N 9-Dec-72 239 Sagittarius "HAHN,NOODLES" 1899 N 29-Apr-79 145 Taurus "HAHN,NOODLES" 1900 N 29-Apr-79 132 Taurus "YOUNG,CY" 1901 A 29-Mar-67 158 Aries "HAHN,NOODLES" 1901 N 29-Apr-79 239 Taurus "WILLIS,VIC" 1902 N 12-Apr-76 225 Aries "WADDELL,RUBE" 1902 A 13-Oct-76 210 Libra "MATHEWSON,CHRISTY" 1903 N 12-Aug-80 267 Leo "WADDELL,RUBE" 1903 A 13-Oct-76 302 Libra "MATHEWSON,CHRISTY" 1904 N 12-Aug-80 212 Leo "WADDELL,RUBE" 1904 A 13-Oct-76 349 Libra "MATHEWSON,CHRISTY" 1905 N 12-Aug-80 206 Leo "WADDELL,RUBE" 1905 A 13-Oct-76 287 Libra "BEEBE,FRED" 1906 N 31-Dec-80 171 Capricorn "WADDELL,RUBE" 1906 A 13-Oct-76 196 Libra "MATHEWSON,CHRISTY" 1907 N 12-Aug-80 178 Leo "WADDELL,RUBE" 1907 A 13-Oct-76 232 Libra "MATHEWSON,CHRISTY" 1908 N 12-Aug-80 259 Leo "WALSH,ED" 1908 A 14-May-81 269 Taurus "OVERALL,ORVAL" 1909 N 2-Feb-81 205 Aquarius "SMITH,FRANK" 1909 A 28-Oct-79 177 Scorpio "MOORE,EARL" 1910 N 29-Jul-79 185 Leo "JOHNSON,WALTER" 1910 A 6-Nov-87 313 Scorpio "MARQUARD,RUBE" 1911 N 9-Oct-86 237 Libra "WALSH,ED" 1911 A 14-May-81 255 Taurus "ALEXANDER,PETE" 1912 N 26-Feb-87 195 Pisces "JOHNSON,WALTER" 1912 A 6-Nov-87 303 Scorpio "JOHNSON,WALTER" 1913 A 6-Nov-87 243 Scorpio "SEATON,TOM" 1913 N 30-Aug-87 168 Virgo "ALEXANDER,PETE" 1914 N 26-Feb-87 214 Pisces "JOHNSON,WALTER" 1914 A 6-Nov-87 225 Scorpio "ALEXANDER,PETE" 1915 N 26-Feb-87 241 Pisces "JOHNSON,WALTER" 1915 A 6-Nov-87 203 Scorpio "ALEXANDER,PETE" 1916 N 26-Feb-87 167 Pisces "JOHNSON,WALTER" 1916 A 6-Nov-87 228 Scorpio "ALEXANDER,PETE" 1917 N 26-Feb-87 200 Pisces "JOHNSON,WALTER" 1917 A 6-Nov-87 188 Scorpio "VAUGHN,HIPPO" 1918 N 9-Apr-88 148 Aries "JOHNSON,WALTER" 1918 A 6-Nov-87 162 Scorpio "VAUGHN,HIPPO" 1919 N 9-Apr-88 141 Aries "JOHNSON,WALTER" 1919 A 6-Nov-87 147 Scorpio "COVELESKI,STAN" 1920 A 13-Jul-89 133 Cancer "ALEXANDER,PETE" 1920 N 26-Feb-87 173 Pisces "GRIMES,BURLEIGH" 1921 N 18-Aug-93 136 Leo "JOHNSON,WALTER" 1921 A 6-Nov-87 143 Scorpio "SHOCKER,URBAN" 1922 A 22-Aug-90 149 Leo "VANCE,DAZZY" 1922 N 4-Mar-91 134 Pisces "VANCE,DAZZY" 1923 N 4-Mar-91 197 Pisces "JOHNSON,WALTER" 1923 A 6-Nov-87 130 Scorpio "VANCE,DAZZY" 1924 N 4-Mar-91 262 Pisces "JOHNSON,WALTER" 1924 A 6-Nov-87 158 Scorpio "GROVE,LEFTY" 1925 A 6-Mar-00 116 Pisces "VANCE,DAZZY" 1925 N 4-Mar-91 221 Pisces "GROVE,LEFTY" 1926 A 6-Mar-00 194 Pisces "VANCE,DAZZY" 1926 N 4-Mar-91 140 Pisces "GROVE,LEFTY" 1927 A 6-Mar-00 174 Pisces "VANCE,DAZZY" 1927 N 4-Mar-91 184 Pisces "GROVE,LEFTY" 1928 A 6-Mar-00 183 Pisces "VANCE,DAZZY" 1928 N 4-Mar-91 200 Pisces "MALONE,PAT" 1929 N 25-Sep-02 166 Libra "GROVE,LEFTY" 1929 A 6-Mar-00 170 Pisces "HALLAHAN,BILL" 1930 N 4-Aug-02 177 Leo "GROVE,LEFTY" 1930 A 6-Mar-00 209 Pisces "HALLAHAN,BILL" 1931 N 4-Aug-02 159 Leo "GROVE,LEFTY" 1931 A 6-Mar-00 175 Pisces "DEAN,DIZZY" 1932 N 16-Jan-10 191 Capricorn "RUFFING,RED" 1932 A 3-May-04 190 Taurus "DEAN,DIZZY" 1933 N 16-Jan-10 199 Capricorn "GOMEZ,LEFTY" 1933 A 26-Nov-08 163 Sagittarius "DEAN,DIZZY" 1934 N 16-Jan-10 195 Capricorn "GOMEZ,LEFTY" 1934 A 26-Nov-08 158 Sagittarius "BRIDGES,TOMMY" 1935 A 28-Dec-06 163 Capricorn "DEAN,DIZZY" 1935 N 16-Jan-10 190 Capricorn "BRIDGES,TOMMY" 1936 A 28-Dec-06 175 Capricorn "MUNGO,VAN" 1936 N 8-Jun-11 238 Gemini "HUBBELL,CARL" 1937 N 22-Jun-03 159 Cancer "GOMEZ,LEFTY" 1937 A 26-Nov-08 194 Sagittarius "BRYANT,CLAY" 1938 N 16-Nov-11 135 Scorpio "FELLER,BOB" 1938 A 3-Nov-18 240 Scorpio "PASSEAU,CLAUDE" 1939 N 9-Apr-09 137 Aries "WALTERS,BUCKY" 1939 N 19-Apr-09 137 Aries "FELLER,BOB" 1939 A 3-Nov-18 246 Scorpio "HIGBE,KIRBY" 1940 N 8-Apr-15 137 Aries "FELLER,BOB" 1940 A 3-Nov-18 261 Scorpio "FELLER,BOB" 1941 A 3-Nov-18 260 Scorpio "VANDER MEER,JOHNNY" 1941 N 2-Nov-14 202 Scorpio "HUGHSON,TEX" 1942 A 9-Feb-16 113 Aquarius "NEWSOM,BOBO" 1942 A 11-Aug-07 113 Leo "VANDER MEER,JOHNNY" 1942 N 2-Nov-14 186 Scorpio "REYNOLDS,ALLIE" 1943 A 10-Feb-15 151 Aquarius "VANDER MEER,JOHNNY" 1943 N 2-Nov-14 174 Scorpio "VOISELLE,BILL" 1944 N 29-Jan-19 161 Aquarius "NEWHOUSER,HAL" 1944 A 20-May-21 187 Taurus "ROE,PREACHER" 1945 N 26-Feb-15 148 Pisces "NEWHOUSER,HAL" 1945 A 20-May-21 212 Taurus "SCHMITZ,JOHNNY" 1946 N 27-Nov-20 135 Sagittarius "FELLER,BOB" 1946 A 3-Nov-18 348 Scorpio "BLACKWELL,EWELL" 1947 N 23-Oct-22 193 Scorpio "FELLER,BOB" 1947 A 3-Nov-18 196 Scorpio "BRECHEEN,HARRY" 1948 N 14-Oct-14 149 Libra "FELLER,BOB" 1948 A 3-Nov-18 164 Scorpio "SPAHN,WARREN" 1949 N 23-Apr-21 151 Taurus "TRUCKS,VIRGIL" 1949 A 26-Apr-17 153 Taurus "SPAHN,WARREN" 1950 N 23-Apr-21 191 Taurus "LEMON,BOB" 1950 A 22-Sep-20 170 Virgo "RASCHI,VIC" 1951 A 28-Mar-19 164 Aries "NEWCOMBE,DON" 1951 N 14-Jun-26 164 Gemini "SPAHN,WARREN" 1951 N 23-Apr-21 164 Taurus "REYNOLDS,ALLIE" 1952 A 10-Feb-15 160 Aquarius "SPAHN,WARREN" 1952 N 23-Apr-21 183 Taurus "PIERCE,BILLY" 1953 A 2-Apr-27 186 Aries "ROBERTS,ROBIN" 1953 N 30-Sep-26 198 Libra "ROBERTS,ROBIN" 1954 N 30-Sep-26 185 Libra "TURLEY,BOB" 1954 A 19-Sep-30 185 Virgo "SCORE,HERB" 1955 A 7-Jun-33 245 Gemini "JONES,SAM" 1955 N 14-Dec-25 198 Sagittarius "SCORE,HERB" 1956 A 7-Jun-33 263 Gemini "JONES,SAM" 1956 N 14-Dec-25 176 Sagittarius "WYNN,EARLY" 1957 A 6-Jan-20 184 Capricorn "SANFORD,JACK" 1957 N 18-May-29 188 Taurus "WYNN,EARLY" 1958 A 6-Jan-20 179 Capricorn "JONES,SAM" 1958 N 14-Dec-25 225 Sagittarius "DRYSDALE,DON" 1959 N 23-Jul-36 242 Leo "BUNNING,JIM" 1959 A 23-Oct-31 201 Scorpio "DRYSDALE,DON" 1960 N 23-Jul-36 246 Leo "BUNNING,JIM" 1960 A 23-Oct-31 201 Scorpio "PASCUAL,CAMILO" 1961 A 20-Jan-34 221 Aquarius "KOUFAX,SANDY" 1961 N 30-Dec-35 269 Capricorn "PASCUAL,CAMILO" 1962 A 20-Jan-34 206 Aquarius "DRYSDALE,DON" 1962 N 23-Jul-36 232 Leo "PASCUAL,CAMILO" 1963 A 20-Jan-34 202 Aquarius "KOUFAX,SANDY" 1963 N 30-Dec-35 306 Capricorn "DOWNING,AL" 1964 A 28-Jun-41 217 Cancer "VEALE,BOB" 1964 N 28-Oct-35 250 Scorpio "KOUFAX,SANDY" 1965 N 30-Dec-35 382 Capricorn "McDOWELL,SAM" 1965 A 21-Sep-42 325 Virgo "KOUFAX,SANDY" 1966 N 30-Dec-35 317 Capricorn "McDOWELL,SAM" 1966 A 21-Sep-42 225 Virgo "LONBORG,JIM" 1967 A 16-Apr-42 246 Aries "BUNNING,JIM" 1967 N 23-Oct-31 253 Scorpio "GIBSON,BOB" 1968 N 9-Nov-35 268 Scorpio "McDOWELL,SAM" 1968 A 21-Sep-42 283 Virgo "JENKINS,FERGIE" 1969 N 13-Dec-43 273 Sagittarius "McDOWELL,SAM" 1969 A 21-Sep-42 279 Virgo "SEAVER,TOM" 1970 N 17-Nov-44 283 Scorpio "McDOWELL,SAM" 1970 A 21-Sep-42 304 Virgo "SEAVER,TOM" 1971 N 17-Nov-44 289 Scorpio "LOLICH,MICKEY" 1971
...
> So both potential interpretations of RK's claim are provably false. My > list follow, so my math can be checked. That said, I want to make this > caution: there are so many stats in baseball that I am certain that if > you want to look up arbitrary series of years to find some series that > seems to prove that a particular sign is more dominant, I'm sure that > can be done.
Bang on. This is exactly what is wrong with the original claim. Multiple endpoints.
What everyone ignores is that strikeout titles aren't independent events. Very few titles are won by players who are one-year wonders; if Nolan Ryan wins a title one year, he's going to win it a few other years as well, and rack up points for his astrological sign.
The better question is: what percentage of all *strikeouts* (not strikeout titles) are by Scorpios? If being born in a particular month actually has any impact on one's ability to strike out batters, then one would expect to see that effect globally, not just on a handful of people, and therefore a disproportionate number of pitchers would be Scorpios (as their astrological advantage gets them to the majors ahead of the astrologically wanting Leos, etc.).
I suspect that that figure is between 7 and 10 percent, i.e., not statistically significant in the slightest.
There's a reason that oil companies hire geologists rather than astrologists to find oil. -- "It is clear our nation is reliant upon big foreign oil. More and more of our imports come from overseas." -- George W. Bush
Wow...I can just imagine a "Cosmic League" with the teams wearing the astrological signs on their uniforms, and seventh-inning karma breaks...;)
Actually, there is a semi-precedent: in the movie "The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh", a losing pro basketball team is taken over by a fortune teller and re-dubbed the Pittsburgh Pisces! (Julius Erving is in it, I think, and so is Kareem...)
> TEAM ARIES > SP - Greg Maddux > RP -- Antonio Alfonseca > C - Jason Varitek, Dan Wilson, Brad Ausmus > 1B - Rico Brogna > 2B - Bret Boone, Fernando Vina > SS - Alex Gonzalez (TOR) > 3B - Travis Fryman, Scott Rolen, Adrian Beltre > OF - David Justice, Brian Jordan, Jeromy Burnitz > DH - Jose Cruz, Jr.
With myself as owner/bat boy...
> TEAM TAURUS > SP - David Wells, Barry Zito, John Smoltz, Darren Dreifort > RP - Turk Wendell, Kerry Ligtenberg > C - Charlie O'Brien, A.J. Hinch, Mike Redmond (FLA) > 1B - Ivan Cruz (PGH) > 2B - Miguel Cairo, Carlos Febles > SS - Omar Vizquel > 3B - Chipper Jones > OF - Tony Gwynn, Andruw Jones, Ben Grieve > DH - John Vander Wal, Todd Greene
Can they motor to the top?
> TEAM GEMINI > SP - Kerry Wood, Bartolo Colon, Russ Ortiz, Andy Pettitte > RP - Ramiro Mendoza > C - Sandy Alomar, Jr., Todd Hundley > 1B - Andres Galarraga, Jeff Bagwell > 2B - Pokey Reese > SS - Miguel Tejada > 3B - Bill Spiers, Aaron Ledesma > OF - Darin Erstad, Carlos Beltran, Manny Ramirez, Kenny Lofton > DH - Frank Thomas
Wood a Gemini? (He *does* look like he's throwing two balls at once...;)
> TEAM CANCER > SP - Chan Ho Park, Dave Burba, Rich Ankiel, James Baldwin, Aaron > Sele > RP - Matt Mantei, Jeff Shaw > C - Jason Kendall, Charles Johnson > 1B - Carlos Delgado, Sean Casey > 2B - Chuck Knoblauch, Mark Grudzielanek > SS - Derek Jeter > 3B - Robin Ventura > OF - Jim Edmonds, Moises Alou, Greg Vaughn > DH - Jose Canseco
Er...maybe a name change is in order, unless you want drunks shouting, "Hey, Cancer...where's Darryl...?!"
> TEAM LEO > SP - Rick Reed, Roger Clemens, Alex Fernandez > RP - John Wetteland, Danny Graves, Troy Percival, Billy Wagner > C - Bobby Estalella > 1B - Todd Helton, John Olerud > 2B - Justin Baughman > SS - Alex Rodriguez, Nomar Garciaparra > 3B - Troy Glaus > OF - Jay Buhner, Troy O'Leary, Barry Bonds > DH - Bobby Higginson
Expect a catfight over who gets moved to third...
> TEAM VIRGO > SP - Randy Johnson, Mike Hampton, Denny Neagle, Gil Meche > RP - Paul Abbott, Jason Isringhausen > C - Mike Piazza > 1B - Jim Thome > 2B - David Bell, Jose Vidro > SS - Rafael Furcal > 3B - Cal Ripken, Jr. > OF - Bernie Williams, Tim Salmon, Albert Belle > DH - Luis Gonzalez
A strong team, but their games might get rained out...
> TEAM LIBRA > SP - Al Leiter, Orlando Hernandez, Pete Harnisch, Freddy Garcia > RP - Trevor Hoffman, Keith Foulke, John Rocker > C - Darren Fletcher, Joe Girardi > 1B - Rafael Palmiero > 2B - Kevin Jordan (PHI) > SS - Jose Valentin > 3B - Jeff Cirillo > OF - Juan Gonzalez, Jeremy Giambi, Dmitri Young, Roberto Kelly > DH - Mark McGwire
These guys won't play for scale...
> TEAM SCORPIO > SP - Pat Hentgen, Sidney Ponson, Brad Radke, Curt Schilling, Gil > Heredia > RP - Armando Benitez, Arthur Rhodes, Jeff Nelson > C - Javy Lopez > 1B - Eric Karros, Fred McGriff > 2B - Edgardo Alfonzo > SS - Gold-Glove Award Winning Mets Shortstop Rey Ordonez, Gary > DiSarcina > 3B - Lenny Harris, Shane Halter > OF - Sammy Sosa, Ken Griffey, Jr., Shawn Green, Gary Sheffield > DH - Johnny Damon
Featuring the mysterious Scorpio from the soap opera as terrorist/owner...
> TEAM SAGITTARIUS > SP - Pedro Martinez, Kirk Reuter, Mike Mussina, Darryl Kile, > Kevin Appier, Chuck Finley > RP - Robb Nen, Mariano Rivera > C - Pudge Rodriguez > 1B - Mo Vaughn, Tino Martinez > 2B - Craig Biggio, Jay Bell, Ray Durham > SS - Walt Weiss, Hanley Frias > 3B - Matt Williams, Tony Bautista > OF - Larry Walker, Cliff Floyd, Jay Payton, Darryl Hamilton > DH - Rickey Ledee
(insert witty comment here)
> TEAM CAPRICORN > SP - David Cone, Jeff D'Amico, Kevin Millwood, Jaret Wright, Jeff > Fassero!, A.J. Burnett > RP - Jay Powell, Byun-Hyung Kim > C - Brian Johnson (KC) > 1B - Jason Giambi > 2B - Delino DeShields > SS - Royce Clayton > 3B - Chris Stynes, Fernando Tatis > OF - Richie Sexson, Brady Anderson, Benny Agbayani, Mike Cameron > DH - Edgar Martinez
The headline after they win the pennant: "CAPRICORN WON!"
> TEAM AQUARIUS > SP - Scott Erickson, Bobby J. Jones, Jason Schmidt, Jim Parque, > Shawn Estes > RP - Ugueth Urbina, Scott Williamson > C - Kelly Stinnett, Mike Lieberthal > 1B - Brian Daubach, Erubiel Durazo > 2B - Robby Alomar > SS - Neifi Perez, Alex Gonzalez (FLA) > 3B - John Valentin, Phil Nevin > OF - Vladimir Guerrero, Jermaine Dye, Magglio Ordonez, Brian > Giles > DH - Marvin Benard
It's dawned on me Aquarius need more pitching!
> TEAM PISCES > SP - Kevin Brown!, Livan Hernandez, John Halama, Scott Elarton, > Shane Reynolds, Ramon Martinez > RP - Kazuhiro Sasaki, Scott Service > C - Tom Lampkin, Benito Santiago > 1B - Will Clark, J.T. Snow, Paul Konerko > 2B - Jeff Kent > SS - Abraham Nunez > 3B - Bill Mueller, Aaron Boone > OF - Steve Finley, Shannon Stewart, Matt Stairs, Raul Mondesi > DH - Harold Baines, Bruce Aven
-> >news:39D8404B.1C858781@gte.net... -> > -> >> Scorpio produces more than one out of every five strikeout -> >> champions, compiling 50 titles. (For the skeptics out there, the -> >> odds of this have been calculated at 20 million to 1.) -> > -> >Care to show us the math on this? -> -> Well, for one, it's not true. Since 1871, not including this year, I -> looked at the league leaders (there are 242) and ran the data. In 45 -> seasons, a Scorpio led the league in strikeouts, which is 19%, which -> is not, as RK claims, more than one out of five.
I should know better than to get involved here, but what the heck. Rightly or wrongly, many people consider major league baseball to have begun in 1901, not in 1871. That way you lose 5 Scorpios and 41 seasons, so we're talking 40 leaders out of 201 "seasons". I use the quotes because that figure includes three season when there was a tie in one league & 2 pitchers got counted:
-> "PASSEAU,CLAUDE" 1939 N 9-Apr-09 137 Aries -> "WALTERS,BUCKY" 1939 N 19-Apr-09 137 Aries
-> "HUGHSON,TEX" 1942 A 9-Feb-16 113 Aquarius -> "NEWSOM,BOBO" 1942 A 11-Aug-07 113 Leo
-> "NEWCOMBE,DON" 1951 N 14-Jun-26 164 Gemini -> "SPAHN,WARREN" 1951 N 23-Apr-21 164 Taurus
So, if we say there have been 99 seasons in each league since 1901 (I follow your lead in omitting the Federal League & the year 2000) then that's 198 seasons and 40 Scorpios, which is indeed more than one out of five.
>-> On Mon, 2 Oct 2000 05:22:47 -0400, "John Krempasky" <jo...@dmv.com> >-> wrote: >-> >-> >"R.K." <cityg...@gte.net> wrote in message >-> >news:39D8404B.1C858781@gte.net... >-> > >-> >> Scorpio produces more than one out of every five strikeout >-> >> champions, compiling 50 titles. (For the skeptics out there, the >-> >> odds of this have been calculated at 20 million to 1.) >-> > >-> >Care to show us the math on this? >-> >-> Well, for one, it's not true. Since 1871, not including this year, I >-> looked at the league leaders (there are 242) and ran the data. In 45 >-> seasons, a Scorpio led the league in strikeouts, which is 19%, which >-> is not, as RK claims, more than one out of five.
>I should know better than to get involved here, but what the heck. >Rightly or wrongly, many people consider major league baseball to have >begun in 1901, not in 1871. That way you lose 5 Scorpios and 41 >seasons, so we're talking 40 leaders out of 201 "seasons". I use the >quotes because that figure includes three season when there was a tie >in one league & 2 pitchers got counted:
See, this is what my caution was about. If you really wanted, you could say 'many people consider baseball to only have been good between 1970-1975, and the dominance of Tom Seaver during that period, a Scorpio, proves Astrology is for real'. The issue here is that if the thesis was correct, that Scorpio really did dominate, it wouldn't matter what sample you took, 1871-1999 or 1901-1999, because Scorpios would just as easily dominate the not-major-league-baseball seasons, because the claim here is that there's a connection between the sign and strikeout dominance... which is clearly not the case.
On Mon, 02 Oct 2000 22:48:25 GMT, bobofficers@earthlink (Bob Officer) wrote:
>If you have the charts, how many fit into the Gauquelin's "Mars Effect"?
>I am sure some sort of Mars Effect misunderstanding is the source of the >faulty claim of Scorpio is coming from.
Come on now, the claim was quite clear, and I quite clearly proved that it was not true. If you want to make a similar specific, provable claim and back it up with statistics, go ahead. I'm not doing anymore homework for people.
On Tue, 03 Oct 2000 04:54:15 GMT, "R.K." <cityg...@gte.net> wrote: >x-no-archive: yes
>John Krempasky wrote:
>> Care to show us the math on this?
>You'll have to check w/the author of the book and the stats team >he used to compile the data/research. I thought it was pretty >clear that I was quoting from the book, and that this wasn't my >own material.
See my other post for the detailed refutation, but it's clear that if statistics quoted were verbatim, that's a pretty shoddy "stats team".
> >Scorpio > >> produces more than one out of every five strikeout champions, > >> compiling 50 titles. (For the skeptics out there, the odds of > >> this have been calculated at 20 million to 1.)
> >Care to show us the math on this?
> Well, for one, it's not true.
[debunking snipped] I said to myself, "that's the highest quality posting I've seen on alt.astrology in two years."
Then I noticed the crosspost. Thanks.
-- Email handle is time-encoded to foil spammers. Use recent handles only. Filter on domain name only. http://www.sherilyn.org.uk/
R.K. <cityg...@gte.net> wrote in article <39D9663A.46DE2...@gte.net>...
> > After winning their division 5 straight times 71-75 and three straight World > > Series, in 1976 Oakland missed the playoffs, and from 1977 to 1979, they > > were one of the worst teams in baseball.
> Um, that's because you're under the incorrect assumption that > O'Finley hired the astrologer to "make" his team get to the World > Series. He hired her because she predicted that his club WOULDN'T > make the playoffs,
That just flies in the face of what astrology is all about. Surely if he looked hard enough he could have found someone to predict he'd win.
-- Cranial Crusader dgh1...@bellsouth.net (who'd ride the bench on Team Cancer)
> TEAM CAPRICORN > SP - David Cone, Jeff D'Amico, Kevin Millwood, Jaret Wright, Jeff > Fassero!, A.J. Burnett > RP - Jay Powell, Byun-Hyung Kim
Rick Aguilera, Esteban Loiaiza and I have the same birthday. (I can't pitch, though).
> C - Brian Johnson (KC) > 1B - Jason Giambi > 2B - Delino DeShields > SS - Royce Clayton > 3B - Chris Stynes, Fernando Tatis > OF - Richie Sexson, Brady Anderson, Benny Agbayani, Mike Cameron
And Henderson.
> DH - Edgar Martinez
That's three current Mariners. What are the odds?
-- Why does man kill? He kills for food. And not only food: frequently there must be a beverage.
