The Yankees hope last night's 16-inning loss to Boston turns the Rays into grumpy old men for at least one day.
(In addition to appearing at The Captain’s Blog, this post is also being syndicated at TheYankeeAnalysts.)
By the time the Rays and Red Sox completed their 16-inning Sunday night marathon, the Yankees had not only landed in Tampa, but were likely nestled comfortably in their beds. During the ESPN broadcast of the game, Bobby Valentine, Dan Shulman and Orel Hershiser repeatedly joked about how the Yankees’ primary rooting interest wasn’t for one team or the other, but that the game keep on going. After all, with a four-game showdown against the Rays looming, it would stand to reason that the Yankees would benefit from facing a tired and emotionally spent team.
Are teams that play so many extra innings susceptible to a let down in the next day’s game? Based on a sampling since 1990, the answer seems to be yes. Over that period, there have been 81 games that have gone at least 16 innings. However, of that total, only 21 occurred during the last game of a series (meaning in 60, there had to be one winner and loser the next day), and four of those preceded an off day, leaving just 16 (excluding last night’s) applicable contests.
The fate of the Red Sox and Rays will be determined tonight, but the record of the other 32 teams was 13-19 in the game following their extra inning jaunt. Although consideration of several other variables, such as home/road splits and next game’s opponent, would make that record more contextually meaningful, it’s worth noting that the combined W-L percentage of those 32 teams was .521 upon completion of the extra inning affair.
“Next Day” Record of Teams Involved in Games of 16-Plus Innings, Since 1990
Source: baseball-reference.com
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