I didn’t know the number 3 was so important.
It’s true, I have three children and I deem them to be very important. It’s also true that I am a pastor, and as a pastor am inclined to use 3 points to convey gospel truth when I preach. And, I suppose I should have caught on when I learned about the Trinity while I was a student at George Fox (some of those lessons coming from an 8am class with Professor Weinert).
Now that I am here, writing this daily update next to the ocean in Seaside, OR (well, to be fair, I can see the ocean from my perch but I am not technically next to it, yet) I can’t believe I missed it.
A pitcher needs 3 strikes to induce a batter’s slow walk back to the dugout. A team of nine fielders need 3 outs in order to take solace from the summer sun in their team’s dugout. Even the great Bambino wore the number 3 during his playing days!
The past couple of days I have seen – bet you can guess – three different posts/articles about how trios of players are leading their team to some kind of success on the baseball field. The first was a tweet on Sunday by Mariners report Luke Arkins: “48% of the Mariners 82 hits this season have been collected by three players: Kyle Lewis (17), JP Crawford (12) and Kyle Seager (10).” Then, this morning MLB.com posted two different articles about trios of players leading their teams to victory:
You’ll be happy to know that this obsession with 3 is not just an MLB thing. From the blog Alive With Ideas:
“For the uninitiated, the rule of three suggests that words grouped into threes are more appealing and easier to remember. Our brains are pattern-seeking machines, constantly looking for relationships and meaning in the world around us. Three is the smallest number we need to create a pattern, the perfect combination of brevity and rhythm.”
And so there we have it – 3 is the perfect combination of brevity and rhythm. Sometimes I wonder why the league allowed 3 young guys to run it in the absence of our esteemed commissioner. And now I get it! The Three EFLigos were the perfect combination of brevity and rhythm, and for such a compliment we cannot thank you enough.
So, how might each of our teams achieve be defined by this perfect number? Well, I am glad you asked.
| EFL | ||||||
| Team | Wins | Losses | Pct. | GB | RS | RA |
| Cottage Cheese | 7 | 4 | .623 | — | 62.7 | 48.4 |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | 6 | 3 | .615 | 0.3 | 42.5 | 34.0 |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 6 | 5 | .568 | 0.6 | 58.3 | 44.6 |
| Haviland Dragons | 6 | 5 | .530 | 1 | 50.9 | 51.2 |
| Kaline Drive | 6 | 5 | .518 | 1.2 | 52.0 | 49.8 |
| Peshastin Pears | 4 | 6 | .408 | 2.3 | 43.5 | 52.8 |
| Portland Rosebuds | 4 | 6 | .364 | 2.7 | 49.6 | 65.5 |
| D.C. Balk | 4 | 8 | .363 | 3 | 49.7 | 72.8 |
| Bellingham Cascades | 3 | 8 | .295 | 3.6 | 42.1 | 78.8 |
| Canberra Kangaroos | 3 | 9 | .290 | 3.9 | 38.8 | 66.4 |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | 2 | 7 | .206 | 4 | 24.3 | 47.5 |
Cottage: L, 0-7 (44PA, .205, .295, .231; 5IP, 4ER, 7.20 ERA) The Cheese showed up yesterday atop the league standings with a firm lead. Today, they are still there but their lead has shrunk. This could be due to the fact that no part of their slash line was in the 3s, or because their newly acquired pitcher, Brady Singer, who was making the 3rd start of his MLB career, coughed up 4 runs in 5ip. But no, I think the main reason was the 0-3 with 3 Ks put up by Monte Harrison. That perfectly sums up the Cottage day!
Flint Hill: W1, L(-1), 1-(-1) (44PA, .189, .295, .405; 18.3IP, 12ER, 5.90 ERA) The Tornadoes were able to gain on the Cheese mostly because the division-leading Yankees did not play yesterday and so most of the Tornado stats got stored away in place that, if we have our way, will never be found. The batters combined for 13 Ks and 3 GIDPs – both have the number 3 in them and equally horrible. On a happier note, we welcomed Mike Trout back from Family Leave and he hit a HR in his first AB back. How heartwarming is that?
Pittsburgh: L, 4-7 (.212, .300, .424; 6IP, 4ER, 6.00 ERA) The Alleghenys were also able to gain on the Cheese despite a day that could have gone better. Their OBP of .300 (almost as perfect as .333) was formed in large part to the 3 BBs earned by Max Muncy, who wears number 13.
Haviland: W3, L(-2), 7-(-14) (22PA, .368, .455, .579; 21.7IP, 2ER, .83 ERA!!!) Wow! The Dragons had a day for the ages! They jumped from 8th place to 4th place, gaining 2.5 games on the Cheese in a single day. That is what an Edgar Martinez Day coupled with an other-worldly pitching day will earn you. Their 3 wins might be the most I have ever seen in a single day, and in my mind that has to feel about perfect to Dragon management. And very imperfect to the rest of us!
Kaline: W, 2-(-6) (.257, .297, .400; 17.7IP, 3ER, 1.53 ERA) If not for the Dragon line right above this one, I would be amazed. Another strong pitching performance leading another team to victory. Kaline rounds out the teams who are less than 2 games behind the Cheese, which has to make the head Cheese feel a little worried (I hope). The Drive pitchers used the perfect number 3 to determine how many ER they would give up, and it worked because they just kept pitching more and more innings after reaching 3 ERs.
Peshastin: L, 2-5 (.083, .214, .208; 6IP, 2ER, 3.00 ERA) The Pears were able to achieve the perfect number in two different ways, with their pitcher (Dustin May) doing it the best way (a 3.00 ERA). The batters did it a different way, three of them choosing to strike out 2 times each, leading to a slash line that one would rather never see again, I imagine.
Portland: “W,” 4-4 (36PA, .100, .250, .300; 6IP, 1ER, 1.50 ERA) The Rosebuds didn’t feel like winning or losing, so they made sure to put up equal numbers, though they were not quite perfect but very close. Their batters decided the best way to achieve perfection was by getting 3 total hits in 36 PAs. And they did it!
DC: L, 5-11 (34PA, .281, .324, .438; 3.3IP, 5ER, 13.64 ERA) The Balk batters had a decent day, trying to cover for Joe Musgrove who did not have a decent day, although his WHIP ended up an infinitely perfect 3.33333333. If he would have tried for an ERA of 3.333333 it might have meant a win for the Balk. But, alas, he didn’t. The Balk are now a perfect 3 games out of first place.
Bellingham: “L,” 3-3 (19PA, .188, .316, .250; 5IP, 3ER, 5.40 ERA) The Cascades did what the Rosebuds could not, earning a perfect score of 3-3! Unfortunately for them it was a loss, which doesn’t make sense since 3-3 is more perfect than 4-4. Just to prove how perfect they are, the hitters also achieved 3 hits exactly. A perfect game (wait, I don’t think this is the definition of a perfect game).
Canberra: W, 7-(-1) (41PA, .297, .366, .486; 8.6IP, 0ER, 0.00 ERA) The Roos have left the cellar. I repeat! The Roos have left the cellar and in their wake stands their progenitor behind. The Roos were led by a trio of hitters (Vladito, Kyle Tucker and Austin Nola) who each had 2 hits. Those three led the way, aided by a stellar pitching day, to a perfect win (they now have 3 of them!) and movement up in the standings.
Old Detroit: DNP, (-1)-(-5) (47PA, .171, .277, .390; 5.7IP, 1ER, 1.58 ERA) The Wolverines, acting a servant to their offspring, took over last place so Ryan didn’t have to be there anymore. If that is not perfect love, then what is? Their team hit 3 HRS – how perfect! – and their pitcher (Heaney) allowed 3 hits. Perfect!
Even though two of your three articles about three stars referred to Wolverines (Eloy Jimenez was one of the White Sox heroes, and Austin Riley one of the three bold Braves) the Ws completed their descent into the cellar. If one of my Mariners had made the short list in Seattle — Vigelbach, presumably– the Ws would be in first place! 2/3 of perfection isnt worth 2/3 pf perfection apparently.