As MLB's regular season winds down, teams vying for a spot in the postseason are nearing their "magic number." But what exactly does that mean?
Here's an explanation of a team's magic number, and how it is calculated.
What is a magic number?
A team's magic number is how close it is to clinching a playoff berth. The magic number could also be the club's distance from winning the division or securing a wild-card spot.
How is a magic number calculated?
The formula for a team's magic number is as follows:
163 - (playoff team's win total + trailing team's loss total) = magic number
or
Games remaining + 1 - (losses by second-place team - losses by first-place team) = magic number.
A team's magic number represents the combination of wins needed by that team and losses by its closest competitor that would result in that team mathematically-clinching a playoff spot.
Every time a team wins, its magic number decreases by one. Similarly, every time that team's closest competitor for the division title (or wild card spot) loses, the magic number also decreases by one.
Here is a hypothetical example:
Team A is 87-69 and currently sits in a playoff spot with six games remaining in MLB's 162-game regular season. Team B is 84-72 and trails Team A by three games in the standings.
Team A's magic number to eliminate Team B and clinch a playoff berth is:
163 - (87 + 72) = 4
- or -
7 - (72 - 69) = 4
That means a combination of four wins by Team A and losses by Team B would secure a playoff spot for Team A.
What is the origin of the magic number?
The first known use of the term "magic number" came during the pennant race between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox in 1947. An article in The Washington Post on Sept. 12, 1947, stated: "The Yankees reduced the magic number to four. That is the combination of games the Yankees must win or the Red Sox must lose in order to insure the flag for the Yankees."
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