Porkins
::
8 days ago
:: 147 views
We've all heard the old addage that defense wins championships. It's mostly a football saying, but similar cliches abound in all major sports. Often, fans hold these assertions to be true with really paying attention to the evidence, or lack thereof.

But what if we took a look at the numbers? Would such bold pronouncements withstand exposure to the facts? Our old buddy Ram touched on the subject in this NMI blog, but since we're waist-deep in baseball during these hot July days, I thought I'd take a look at the World Series.
What do the champs of MLB have in common? In other words, what wins the World Series?
Now I admit that this is only a crude analysis and is far from exhaustive. But even a glance can be instructive when you're looking in the right direction. With compliments to baseball-reference.com, let's explore some facts.
I looked at every World Series winning team since the 1994 strike-shortened season to try to determine common threads. Why did these teams win while others fell short? I also limited my analysis to regular season numbers to make sure I was comparing the champs with all of their competition.
Warning: Clearly, the playoffs are a different animal, and there may be numerous factors that affect a team's playoff perfomance or make it different from what the same team achieved during the regular season. Just as clearly, there are exceptions to every rule...so take all of this with a grain of salt.
That said, I started with offense.