Mark Twain averred that there are three kinds of untruths -- lies, darned lies and statistics. If that's true, Atlanta Braves fans should rejoice: Their team mightn't be half as bad as these numbers suggest/insist! Then again ...
1. The Cubs won seven games last week and are 24-6. If you tripled the Braves' win total, you'd get 21.
2. Speaking of which: Every big-league team but one has managed a triple. Guess the exception.
3. The Mets have hit 47 home runs. If you sextupled the Braves' total, you'd get 42.
4. Freddie Freeman leads the Braves with four homers. Among Mets, he'd be tied for sixth.
5. Of the Braves' seven homers, two were struck by men no longer on the 25-man roster.
6. The Cubs have scored 184 runs. If you doubled the Braves' total, you'd get 180.
7. The gap between the Cardinals, who have baseball's best slugging percentage, and the Nationals, who are 17th-best, is .065 percentage points. The gap between the Braves, who rank last in slugging, and the Yankees, who rank next-to-last, is .068.
8. The Cardinals have 122 extra-base hits. If you doubled the Braves' total, you'd get 98.
9. The Cubs haven't lost consecutive games this season. The Braves have lost their past four games -- and that's only their third-longest losing streak of these first five weeks.
10. The Orioles have won 13 home games. If you multiplied the Braves' number of home wins by 13, you'd get ... 13.
Bonus: From Opening Day 2010 through July 7, 2015, the Braves were 491-403; the Cubs were 392-501. The Cubs are 75-34 since; the Braves are 32-76.
Further glad tidings:
Did the Braves sell high on Shelby Miller or what?
A drop and a bullpen flop put a stop to the Braves' winning streak.
Progress! The Braves are giving us moments.
These Braves weren't built to win. Good thing, seeing that they're 0-5.
About the Author
