Expert: Whose winning streak will continue in the World Series?

Pitch

The St. Louis Cardinals and the Texas Rangers each rode hot streaks at the end of their regular season, right into the playoffs. How long can it last?

Alan Reifman, a professor in Texas Tech University’s Department of Human Development and Family Studies, who studies sports streakiness and conducts “hot hand” research, can speak to sports trends and statistical probability. His blog can be found at http://thehothand.blogspot.com/.

Reifman is also the author of the forthcoming book “Hot Hand: The Statistics Behind Sports’ Greatest Streaks.”

 

Expert

Alan Reifman, professor, Human Development and Family Studies, Texas Tech    University, (806) 742-3000 ext. 274, or alan.reifman@ttu.edu.

 

Talking Points

• How the Cardinals got hot for roughly the last month of the season (winning 23 games and losing only 9), while their rivals for the last playoff spot, the Atlanta Braves, got cold over the same period of time (winning 11 and losing 21).
• How the Rangers finished the season even hotter than the Cardinals, winning 14 of their final 16 regular-season games. It’s not always the case that teams that finished the regular season strongly make it to the World Series, but this year it is.
• The amazing hot hitting of the Rangers’ Nelson Cruz and several of his teammates in the postseason.