FINDING THE HIDDEN NUMBERS in sports can lead us to some interesting info. 

….Since we’re in the heart of the Baseball Season, let’s look @ some HIDDEN NUMBERS in the MLB. Some of them will surprise you….positively or negatively.

…Let’s take a deep look @ our StL Cardinals. Most of us would say that they are exceeding our expectations after sitting through the last 2 years. The HIDDEN NUMBERS will shed some light as to why the Cardinals are better in 2025.

…the HIDDEN NUMBERS shed even more optimism for our Cardinals. The Redbirds are 4^th in the entire MLB in batting average as of this moment (Sunday morning);  in OPS (On base + slugging %) the Cards 9^th in the MLB!; Men Left on Base is not a strong point, though, for StL. They are 19^th in LOB in the MLB. We’re leaving too many men on base!! Now…it’s not what you may think, the Cardinals are the 5^th lowest team in MLB in strikeouts so they ARE making contact. The Cards have built their team around contact hitters with speed. Sooo…. it’s not surprising that they are 23^rd   (of 30)in Home Runs.

…On the other side of the coin for the Cardinals—their pitching. There are some HIDDEN NUMBERS that are surprising…in some cases—very surprising. Ollie Marmol has really stayed with his 5-man rotation through the first ¼ of the season. Sonny Gray (5 starts), Andre Pallante & Miles Mikolas (4 each), Eric Fedde & Matthew Liberatore (3 each). This 5-some has started 52 of the 54 games in 2025. The pitching has seen Liberatore emerge as the current “ACE”. Steven Matz started the other 2 games but has been moved to bullpen where he’s wearing several different “pitching hats”. And….I might add, he’s doing a wonderful job. That reliability & stability provides more than just some good HIDDEN NUMBERS!

…I have an addendum here, my biggest concern for the Cardinals IS and HAS BEEN their starting pitching staff. Although, the team defense is drawing great reviews, The entire staff benefits from the team defense. The HIDDEN NUMBERS on the sharpness of the defense goes far beyond the scarce number of errors. Their coverage, throwing ability, speed has made the Birds defense something special.  Some baseball experts have already called it the best team defense in the MLB!

…I’ve received some comments on my praise of Ollie Marmol last week after shunning him for 2 years. I don’t have any HIDDEN NUMBERS on Ollie! Here’s my thought, when the Cardinals decided to rebuild (oops…that’s a cuss word these days)..reset the team, the Cards knew that they’d have a young, developing (that means, not very good)  roster. Development & experience were needed. Winning was not the early priority. When professional teams are in THAT setting—a young, inexperienced, pat-you-on-the-back, rah-rah type of guy who is low cost is the type of Manager required. Step up Ollie Marmol. When you have a seasoned, talented team, you hire an experienced, expensive, successful coach.  Tony LaRusso was a classic example. Ollie is now playing to win, he’s grown in the role. Playing time isn’t being sorted out like it would be in an amateur game. Some “good” moves that he’s made from my eyes—moving Matz to the bullpen—he seems’ to fill any role; Staying with RF Jordan Walker (who’s improving week x week); trying to find a place for the bat of  Ivan Herrera. Sooo cudo’s to Ollie. Now..this doesn’t mean that I agree with him on everything but I’m sure he’s not losing any sleep over my differences 😊 Btw…when are we going to admit that Contreras isn’t adding much to the team? As of today (5/29) He’s hitting .237, has struck out 27.7% of the time with 55 strikeouts in 198 At Bats, he’s 11^th on the team (16 batters) in OPS (on base% + slugging%). Now to be fair, he DOES lead the team in RBI’s.

…Sometimes these HIDDEN NUMBERS are with us for a long time and we don’t realize it. In the NBA, I immediately think that the players are getting taller & taller each year.  In fact, the current average height in the NBA for this season(2025-2026) is 6-7. 6-7 has been the average NBA height EVERY YEAR since 1980-81.! For several years prior to that it was 6-6. But….these 6-7 players of 2025 are much more agile, have wider shooting & ballhandling abilities than the 6-7 players did of the 50’s, 60’s.

….Many MLB fans think that pitching alone carries teams to the playoffs. THE HIDDEN NUMBERS tell us that for the most part on May 26, the top 5 teams found in most of the key BATTING categories are the Yankees, Dodgers, Cubs, Phillies and another shocker to me-Detroit Tigers!  They are all in 1^st place. So much for the idea that pitching carries a team.

…The HIDDEN NUMBERS of the MLB playoff system are easy to see.….it seems to me that every 5-10 years in recent decades, the MLB feels compelled to modify the playoff system. The goal is to find additional ways to get more teams in the playoffs. And, of course, to make more money for the owners.  To me 162 games is enough data to determine which teams belong in the playoffs. For 66 years there were only 2 playoff teams (from 1903 to 1968) in the MLB playoffs.

…But…let’s be honest, These HIDDEN NUMBERS are not surprising at all. Adding another playoff round makes more owners happy because each round generates more money—plain & simple. Since 2022, its been a 6 team playoff system now for each league.  The structure-opening round of League action is #6 vs #3 and #5 vs #4 for the season in round 1. The winner of #4 vs #5 advances to  face #1 vs seed. The other side of the bracket-the Winner of #6 v #3 plays the #2 team.  Sooo….the most games played in a single season + playoffs by 1 team is 180 games (18 more than the regular 162 games season).It’s been done 3 time by the St. Louis Cardinals, NY Yankees & Houston Astros .

….How does this work out…I’ve never seen these HIDDEN NUMBERS. The players playoff pool comprises 60% of the gate receipts from every “guaranteed” playoff game. In other words, if it’s a 7 game series, only 4 games are guaranteed. 5 game series would have 3 guaranteed games. It’s a nice bonus for the players—in 2023, some teams like Baltimore, Atlanta, and Minnesota earned around $43,000 per full share. The Teams that went the deepest like Houston and Philadelphia earned around $170,000 per individual full share in 2023. In 2024, the Dodgers earned $477,441 per player for winning the World Series, according to ESPN.  The Astros also received a record-high payout of $179,948 per player in 2024, according to Yahoo Sports.  Not a bad Bonus!!!

…The HIDDEN NUMBERS of sports dips below the professional level. At the college level, Football “brings home the bacon”. Last year, Univ of Missouri football home games generated $13,158,775 in revenue from ticket sales alone. While an article from the Columbia Missourian reported that the athletic department as a whole generated $168 million in revenue, with $56.3 million attributed to football. This likely included revenue beyond ticket sales, such as sponsorships, merchandise, and other sources. Keep in mind that Head Coach Eli Drinkwitz is paid $9m/season!! That contract was for the 2024 and 2025 seasons. But…MU looked ahead, if Coach Drink wanted to leave early, his “buy-out” would be (according to The Kansas City Star) $5 million to MU if he leaves for another job before Dec. 1, 2025. That decreases to $4 million until Dec. 1, 2027; to $3 million until Dec. 1, 2028; and to $1 million to Jan. 15, 2029. 

…As heart-breaking as the Blues loss in playoff game 7 was (I’m starting to get over it but not completely yet ), when one looks at the season long stats, the HIDDEN NUMBERS give us a different feel about the Jets. For the 24-25 season, Winnipeg posted 116 points, the most in the NHL. They had 12 more wins than the Blues; 23 more goals than the Blues; allowed 42 less goals. On paper, it should NOT have even been such a close series. Man….the Blues gave it their all..I wish that they could play the last 4-6 minutes of the last game over again (like all Blues fans do … I suspect 😊)

…Staying with the Blues…some HIDDEN NUMBERS that aren’t mentioned often is the age of the key players. The Blues have some decisions with the aging players. There are (in no particular order) 5 St. Louis Blues players are 30 or more years old as of May 28, 2025: Brayden Schenn (33), Oskar Sundqvist (31), Nathan Walker (31), Nick Leddy (34), and Justin Faulk (35). The NHL average age for this season was 28.3. I realize that defensemen have traditionally played deeper into their age. However, with the changing tactics of defensemen becoming more active in the offensive zone with good speed needed for the transition game, younger defensemen become more relevant. I would expect that at least 2 (PROBABLY 4) of the 5 players mentioned above will “move on” this off season. In the 2024-25 season, the Blues were 20^th (of 30 teams) in the age of their team—28.0. Btw.. Winnipeg’s average age was 28.9

…Some HIDDEN NUMBERS  that aren’t hidden easily are in the MLS. StL City just fired their coach. I have no experience in playing soccer. Now, as a complete outsider, if 2 coaches have been fired in 1-2 year span. I’d say either a) the players brought in by the GM aren’t good enough—if so? Why blame the coach? Look at the mirror!!  Or B) The coaches don’t match the quality of the league. The 1^st coach had success pressuring the ball. As the league adjusted around mid-season, and  found ways to beat the City pressure defense, success evaporated!  As a “new” fan of professional soccer (I’m trying), I’d prefer scores comparable to hockey scores.  These 1-0 matches might “do it” for the experienced, knowledgeable soccer fans but they don’t for me (yet).I must admit, however, the passing skills of these professional soccer players as they drill long hooking or curls passes to teammates on the move, their ballhandling skills and goalie diving saves makes one appreciate their high talent.

…As for as my City game-day experience, as I’ve mentioned previously, it was miserable. A 6ft+ man in stood in front of me for the vast majority of the game. I saw a lot of his back & lower. Not real enjoyable!  Why doesn’t City have a STAND “ALL GAME” SECTION or a” SIT ALL GAME” SECTION for the fans that want that experience?

…Maybe that’s a factor in the declining attendance or maybe it’s the severe drop from the expectations that the fans had for STL City when the program began. It’s disappointing. The HIDDEN attendance NUMBERS of StL City reflect the same feeling. In 2023-the Average home attendance was 22,423. In 2024, the Average home attendance remained: 22,423. But in 2025 as of May 28, the average home attendance was 21,358. That’s a drop of 4.7%

…Well, I’ve run out of HIDDEN NUMBERS for the moment!  Please respond with YOUR thoughts. Your responses don’t have to be long. Just an idea that you agreed/disagreed on in this Buzz. Either post them on my Facebook page (Bob Ryan) right under the article or send to me & I’ll post them. I would encourage you to read the responses—they are often VERY interesting.  Thanks for your read/time!  Bob/Coach