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jodyedgarus · 6 years

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We Checked 50 Years Of Sports History To Find The Team That Stands Out The Least

At 64-67, the Pittsburgh Pirates are nobody’s idea of a special team. Although they harbored some aspirations of contending before the season — and even held a half-game lead over the NL Central as late as May 17 — Pittsburgh has been pretty mediocre for most of the 2018 campaign, even after inexplicably picking up pitcher Chris Archer at the trade deadline.

One way in which the Pirates have been exceptional, however, is in their lack of exceptionality. In addition to their .500-ish record, they’ve scored almost exactly as many runs (576) as they’ve allowed (577), at per-game rates that are almost exactly average on each side of the ball, in a manner — as measured by their on-base and slugging percentages for and against — that is almost exactly average. The Bucs are unspectacular right down to the core, and that makes them, statistically, the world’s most middle-of-the-road baseball team — not just of this season, but in all of modern history (since 1901).

Or at least, they are according to a method I put together to seek out the North American pro teams in the big four leagues (so, MLB, NFL, NBA and NHL) who hewed closest to their sport’s average numbers in a season. For each team, I calculated its z-scores (standard deviations above or below average) in winning percentage, per-game victory margin and scoring per game (both for and against), plus a metric I threw in (varying by sport) to represent each team’s style of play. Then I squared each z-score, weighted them (see below) and added up those numbers to arrive at a team’s overall difference from league average, where lower is better.

Here are the numbers I looked at for each sport, along with how much weight each one carries:

Finding the most average teams

Categories (and weights) considered when measuring MLB, NFL, NBA and NHL teams against their league’s average for a given season

Sport Weight Category MLB 10 PTS Winning percentage 8 Run differential 6 Runs per game* vs. avg. 4 On-base percentage and slugging percentage* vs. avg. NFL 10 Winning percentage 8 Point differential 6 Points per game* vs. avg. 4 Passing/rushing yards per attempt* vs. avg. NBA 10 Winning percentage 8 Point differential 6 Points per game* vs. avg. 4 True shooting percentage and free throw rate* vs. avg. NHL 10 Points percentage 8 Goal differential 6 Goals per game* vs. avg. 4 Shots per game and shooting percentage* vs. avg.

* Both for and against the team in question.

The weights are somewhat arbitrary, but hopefully they make sense: A record close to .500 is the essence of average-ness — and worthy of the strongest weight — but we can also give bonus points for being average at every level as we dig deeper into a team’s statistical portfolio.

(The components I chose at the deepest level — true shooting percentage, yards per attempt, etc. — in each sport were also arbitrary, but I wanted to include metrics that summarize how a team plays on both offense and defense. To truly be the most average team, you must not only finish as close to .500 as possible, but you must do so while playing like a typical team of the era.)

And by that standard, the Pirates have managed to outshine every other current team, easily topping the other sports’ most mediocre contenders: the NHL’s New Jersey Devils, the NBA’s Washington Wizards and the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks.1

The Pirates are the most average team in sports

Teams whose weighted sum of squared z-scores were closest to 0.0 (perfectly average) for the most recent MLB/NFL/NBA/NHL season

Z-Score (std. deviations above/below avg.) Team Sport Win PCT. Scoring Diff. Scoring Off. Scoring Def. Sum of Sq. Z-scores* 1 PIT MLB -0.09 +0.02 -0.10 +0.11 0.30 2 NJD NHL +0.35 +0.10 +0.18 -0.02 1.44 3 LAA MLB -0.16 +0.20 +0.25 +0.12 1.54 4 WAS NBA +0.16 +0.13 +0.07 +0.09 1.64 5 PHI MLB +0.37 -0.01 -0.33 +0.24 3.06 6 SEA NFL +0.31 +0.34 +0.28 +0.35 3.36 7 TEN NFL +0.31 -0.22 -0.21 -0.19 3.85 8 MIL MLB +0.54 +0.17 -0.14 +0.39 3.92 9 DAL NFL +0.31 +0.22 +0.10 +0.35 4.06 10 PHI NHL +0.42 +0.20 +0.31 +0.03 4.08 11 MIN MLB -0.29 -0.29 +0.05 -0.51 4.32 12 MIL NBA +0.25 -0.07 +0.04 -0.14 4.49 13 WSN MLB -0.09 +0.50 +0.21 +0.64 4.56 14 DAL NHL +0.03 +0.25 -0.36 +0.82 5.29 15 CBJ NHL +0.35 +0.30 -0.07 +0.60 5.47 16 NYM MLB -0.54 -0.31 -0.57 -0.04 5.75 17 COL MLB +0.54 -0.02 +0.63 -0.53 5.76 18 DET NBA -0.16 -0.03 -0.68 +0.73 6.03 19 FLA NHL +0.28 +0.05 +0.18 -0.10 6.17 20 LAC NBA +0.08 +0.01 +0.70 -0.79 6.62

*In addition to categories shown here, the weighted sum of the squares includes sport-specific categories not listed in the table.

Source: Sports-Reference.com

The old MLB single-season record holder for mediocrity — who could reclaim their crown, I suppose, if the Pirates play too well or too poorly over the next month — were the 1923 Brooklyn Robins,2 whose record and number of runs scored and allowed were impeccably ordinary. But the Robins’ OBP was a little outside the norm, and that might prove to be their downfall against a team as relentlessly humdrum as this year’s Pirates. Pittsburgh’s only real historical competition could be the NHL’s 1976 Vancouver Canucks (who went 33-32 with 15 ties, scoring just one less goal than they allowed) and the NFL’s 1984 Cincinnati Bengals. With an 8-8 record and precisely identical numbers for points scored and allowed (339), those Bengals were the 2007 Patriots of garden-variety football. Pittsburgh needs to bear down and really focus on being as unremarkable as possible if it has any hope of catching the Bengals.

Here are the most average teams in each sport since 1971, when the NBA began tracking opponent statistics (which allows us to calculate our detailed numbers for all four leagues):

Who’s the most average of them all?

Most average single-season teams in MLB/NFL/NBA/NHL since 1971,* measured in squared, weighted sums of the difference from league average

MLB SQ. DIFF. NFL SQ. DIFF. 1 2018 Pittsburgh Pirates 0.30 1 1984 Cincinnati Bengals 0.20 2 1979 Chicago Cubs 0.49 2 1972 Atlanta Falcons 0.56 3 2010 Florida Marlins 0.51 3 1981 Washington 0.79 4 1993 Seattle Mariners 0.64 4 1991 New York Jets 0.87 5 2000 Detroit Tigers 0.75 5 1999 Detroit Lions 0.88 6 2013 Arizona Diamondbacks 0.78 6 1999 Green Bay Packers 1.03 7 1997 Detroit Tigers 0.83 7 1978 Washington 1.12 8 1984 California Angels 0.85 8 2011 Chicago Bears 1.14 9 2001 Toronto Blue Jays 0.86 9 1970 San Diego Chargers 1.15 10 1976 Cleveland Indians 0.86 10 1987 Minnesota Vikings 1.17 NBA SQ. DIFF. NHL SQ. DIFF. 1 2016 Dallas Mavericks 0.42 1 1976 Vancouver Canucks 0.23 2 2017 Indiana Pacers 0.69 2 2008 Nashville Predators 0.23 3 1989 Boston Celtics 1.01 3 1997 Phoenix Coyotes 0.34 4 2007 New Jersey Nets 1.17 4 1975 St. Louis Blues 0.35 5 1998 Washington Wizards 1.23 5 2009 Anaheim Ducks 0.55 6 2005 Cleveland Cavaliers 1.33 6 1979 Los Angeles Kings 0.70 7 1997 Minnesota Timberwolves 1.38 7 2014 Detroit Red Wings 0.72 8 2008 Washington Wizards 1.42 8 1989 Hartford Whalers 0.72 9 1982 Portland Trail Blazers 1.59 9 1983 Vancouver Canucks 0.78 10 2018 Washington Wizards 1.64 10 1978 Detroit Red Wings 0.83

*1971 is the earliest season for which detailed opponent stats are available for all four sports, making our calculation possible.

Source: Sports-Reference.com

Pittsburgh wasn’t always this nondescript, of course. As of a few years ago, they’d been quite good — making the playoffs3 in three straight years from 2013 to 2015 — and before that, they’d been extremely bad, missing the postseason for 20 straight years. Obviously, neither of those performances will land you anywhere near our list of the most average teams. But Pittsburgh has turned in some faultlessly pedestrian play recently, with a string of near-.500 seasons that culminated in this year’s middling masterpiece.

For fans seeking long-term mediocrity, the Philadelphia Flyers might be a good option, having finished with between 39 and 42 wins in four of their last five seasons. (And in the one season they didn’t, they still racked up points for a league-leading 18 overtime losses, which could easily have turned into ties — aka the best possible outcome for fans of .500 play — under the NHL’s old standings system.) According to our algorithm, no team in major pro sports has been more consistently mediocre over the past five seasons than the Flyers, although they narrowly edged out the NBA’s Washington Wizards — another great pick if you want to watch dependably so-so basketball.

In the long run, the Pirates still have a ways to go to catch the Flyers and Wizards, not to mention the Tampa Bay Rays (MLB’s current five-year kings of the commonplace). But for one magical season, Pittsburgh has been home to one of the most fiercely undistinguished teams in pro sports history.

from News About Sports https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/we-checked-50-years-of-sports-history-to-find-the-team-that-stands-out-the-least/

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hillcountrytimes · 6 years

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Janney Montgomery Scott Boosted By $2.18 Million Its Natl Fuel Gas Company (NFG) Holding; BLACKHAM RESOURCES LTD ORD AUSTR (BKHRF) Shorts Raised By 55.91%

Janney Montgomery Scott Llc increased Natl Fuel Gas Company (NFG) stake by 160.79% reported in 2017Q2 SEC filing. Janney Montgomery Scott Llc acquired 39,634 shares as Natl Fuel Gas Company (NFG)’s stock declined 5.69%. The Janney Montgomery Scott Llc holds 64,284 shares with $3.59M value, up from 24,650 last quarter. Natl Fuel Gas Company now has $5.00B valuation. The stock decreased 0.57% or $0.33 during the last trading session, reaching $58.47. About 68,836 shares traded. National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) has risen 5.11% since December 1, 2016 and is uptrending. It has underperformed by 11.59% the S&P500.

BLACKHAM RESOURCES LTD ORD AUSTR (OTCMKTS:BKHRF) had an increase of 55.91% in short interest. BKHRF’s SI was 68,600 shares in December as released by FINRA. Its up 55.91% from 44,000 shares previously. With 31,200 avg volume, 2 days are for BLACKHAM RESOURCES LTD ORD AUSTR (OTCMKTS:BKHRF)’s short sellers to cover BKHRF’s short positions. The stock decreased 13.25% or $0.01404 during the last trading session, reaching $0.09196. About 4,300 shares traded. Blackham Resources Limited (OTCMKTS:BKHRF) has 0.00% since December 1, 2016 and is . It has underperformed by 16.70% the S&P500.

Among 5 analysts covering National Fuel Gas Co. (NYSE:NFG), 0 have Buy rating, 0 Sell and 5 Hold. Therefore 0 are positive. National Fuel Gas Co. had 13 analyst reports since July 23, 2015 according to SRatingsIntel. The stock of National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) has “Hold” rating given on Thursday, August 31 by Jefferies. The company was upgraded on Thursday, October 13 by Jefferies. Howard Weil maintained National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) on Tuesday, November 17 with “Sector Perform” rating. The firm earned “Hold” rating on Thursday, October 12 by Sidoti. The company was upgraded on Thursday, July 23 by Jefferies. The firm has “Hold” rating by Jefferies given on Monday, April 18. As per Wednesday, April 19, the company rating was upgraded by Jefferies. Barclays Capital maintained it with “Equal-Weight” rating and $61 target in Wednesday, August 10 report.

Janney Montgomery Scott Llc decreased Ishs Russ 2000 Val Etf (IWN) stake by 18,780 shares to 10,347 valued at $1.23M in 2017Q2. It also reduced Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) stake by 37,165 shares and now owns 51,031 shares. Veeva Sys Inc Cl A (NYSE:VEEV) was reduced too.

Investors sentiment decreased to 1.46 in 2017 Q2. Its down 0.37, from 1.83 in 2017Q1. It is negative, as 43 investors sold NFG shares while 69 reduced holdings. 46 funds opened positions while 117 raised stakes. 60.98 million shares or 4.12% more from 58.57 million shares in 2017Q1 were reported. Windsor Ltd Co holds 0.32% or 11,526 shares. Riverhead Mngmt Ltd Liability Co invested 0.02% of its portfolio in National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG). Glenmede Na invested in 1,739 shares. Moreover, Gateway Inv Advisers Ltd Liability has 0.08% invested in National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG). Hightower Advsr Ltd Llc accumulated 16,222 shares or 0.01% of the stock. Mason Street Advsr Ltd Llc accumulated 41,726 shares. Reilly Advsr Limited Company has invested 0% in National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG). Bank Of Hawaii reported 0.02% of its portfolio in National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG). 51,424 were accumulated by Price T Rowe Associate Inc Md. Legal General Grp Public stated it has 97,192 shares. Los Angeles Mgmt And Equity Rech, California-based fund reported 435,259 shares. The New York-based Alliancebernstein LP has invested 0% in National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG). State Street holds 0.03% or 5.84M shares. Creative Planning has invested 0.01% in National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG). International Group Inc has invested 0.05% in National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG).

Blackham Resources Limited explores for and develops mineral properties in Australia. The company has market cap of $25.14 million. It holds interest in the Matilda Gold project and wet commissioning the Wiluna Gold Plant located in Australia. It currently has negative earnings.

The post Janney Montgomery Scott Boosted By $2.18 Million Its Natl Fuel Gas Company (NFG) Holding; BLACKHAM RESOURCES LTD ORD AUSTR (BKHRF) Shorts Raised By 55.91% appeared first on Stock Market News | HillCountryTimes | Get it Today.

from Stock Market News | HillCountryTimes | Get it Today https://www.hillcountrytimes.com/2017/12/01/janney-montgomery-scott-boosted-by-2-18-million-its-natl-fuel-gas-company-nfg-holding-blackham-resources-ltd-ord-austr-bkhrf-shorts-raised-by-55-91/

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