What does 'magic number' mean in baseball? What is Tampa Bay's magic number?

Question

Thanks!

Answer 1

The Elimination Number for any team is determined by adding their number of losses to the number of wins for the team leading the division, and subtracting that total from 163. The Elimination Number for the second place team is the "Magic Number" for the first place team. Tampa's magic number is 35

Answer 2

It is a countdown number which, when it reaches zero, means that the team ahead in the standings cannot be caught by the team against which the magic number was calculated.

A MN can be calculated between any two teams -- even a trailing team against a leading team, it's just a formula -- but generally it is not interesting except for teams leading their division or for the wildcard berth.

MN == 163 - (games won by first team) - (games lost by second team).

The "163" term is the full season (162) plus one (1), which is the margin necessary to ensure a team cannot be caught. (For different season lengths, adjust this value.)

As of tonight (18-Aug), the Rays have a MN of 29 to eliminate the Yankees from the AL East title, while the Red Sox have a MN of 33 to eliminate the Yankees from the wildcard.

Tick-tock, tick-tock...

Answer 3

It means that the 1st place team is getting closer to clinching 1st place with every win they get & for every loss the 2nd place team gets.