Pythagorean Standings

And here is the Central League.

Team       RealRecord P-Wins Diff
Yomiuri     80-63-1     86    -6
Chunichi    78-64-2     78     0
Yakult      60-84-0     69    -9
Hanshin     74-66-4     65     9
Yokohama    71-72-1     66     5
Hiroshima   60-82-2     59     1

Yakult seems to have had the hardest luck, managing only a .417 record with a mere -27 run differential. Hanshin, on the other hand, shows the strength of their bullpen turning a -43 run differential into a winning record.

Here are the Pythagorean standings for the 2008 Pacific League. I have used the Pythagenpat formula, which employs a variable exponent calculated based on each team's run environment.

Team                RealRecord P-Wins Diff
=================== ========== ====== ====
Saitama Seibu	      76-64-4    79   -1
Orix                  75-68-1    75    0.5
Chiba Lotte           73-70-1    73    0.5
Tohoku Rakuten        65-76-3    73   -6.5
Hokkaido Nippon Ham   73-69-2    70    4
Fukuoka Softbank      64-77-3    61    4.5

I was curious about how Rakuten's under-performance would rank historically and checked out who the teams with the worst Real-Pythagorean records had been. Turns out the Golden Eagles would be the 6th worst case in Pacific League history.

Here's the historical top 8 for those interested.

Rank Team                RealRecord P-Wins Diff
==== =================== ========== ====== ====
 #1  2005 Chiba Lotte      84-49-3     96 -10.5
 #2  2003 Fukuoka Daiei    82-55-3     93  -9.5
 #2  2000 Nippon Ham       69-65-1     79  -9.5
 #4  1956 Nishitetsu       96-51-7    107  -7.5
 #5  1981 Seibu            61-61-8     72  -7
 #5  1996 Fukuoka Daiei    54-74-2     62  -7
 #7  1963 Daimai           64-85-1     71  -6.5
 #7  2008 Tohoku Rakuten   65-76-3     73  -6.5

Thanks nanbanjin!

Yeah, Rakuten's performance has been baffling me as well, but I guess it could very well be put down to their lackluster relief corps.

It makes sense that teams with strong relievers and defense, such as the Fighters and Tigers, outperform their Pythag expectations because they may lose big but are capable of winning many close games.

And the Central League:

Team                RealRecord P-Wins Diff
=================== ========== ====== ====
Yomiuri               84-57-3    83    2.5
Hanshin               82-59-3    78    5.5
Yakult                66-74-4    72   -4
Chunichi              71-68-5    67    6.5
Hiroshima             69-70-5    62    9.5
Yokohama              48-94-2    49    0