The question, "Does Spring Training even matter?" is what lots of baseball fans around this time of year often ask when evaluating the early, pre-season performances of their favorite team. For us Angel fans, we all certainly hope not, judging from our 2-9-2 start in 2010.
In hopes of keeping up with Halowood, I thought I would do a little research into the last 8 years of pre-season baseball to see if a teams W - L record in the Cactus or Grapefruit League, often translates into the regular season.
The answer? Not, really. But here are some, mildly interesting facts...
* The last time the Angels had had a losing season was also the last time they had a losing PRE-season. (2003)
* Since 2002, four teams have made it to the World Series with losing pre-season records (2009 & 2008 Phillies, 2005 Chicago White Sox, 2003 Marlins) 3 out of 4 times these teams won it.
* When looking at teams since 2002 that have made it to the NLCS/ALCS, never have ALL of those final, four teams also been in the top four of their respective Spring Training league. The most since 2002 has been 2 teams. In 2004, both Boston and St. Louis finished in the top 4 of the Grapefruit. In 2005 the Angels toped the Cactus while St. Louis was 3rd in the Grapefruit. In 2009, Angels and the Skankees topped their respective spring-training leagues.
* Since 2002, twice has it occured that none of the top four teams in the Cactus and Grapefruit made it to the ALCS/NLCS that same season (2003 & 2006).
Here's a run down of the last 8 years of Spring Training baseball. Top four finishers of each league are listed.
2009
Cactus
LAA: 26-8
MIL: 22-10
TEX: 21-14
KC: 18-14
Grapefruit
NYY: 24-10
ATL: 21-12
STL: 19-12
MINN: 19-13
ALCS: NYY – LAA
NLCS: PHI – LAD
WS: NYY – PHI
2008
Cactus
OAK: 18 –8
LAA: 19-10
MIL: 18-11
TEX: 17-11
Grapefruit
TB: 18-8
NYM: 20-11
FLA: 17-10
STL: 17-10
ALCS: TB - BOS
NLCS PHI – LAD
WS: TB – PHI
2007
Cactus
ARI: 20-12
TEX: 16-11
LAA: 16-11
OAK: 16-12
Grapefruit
DET: 21-10
HOU: 18-11
STL: 16-10
ATL: 18-12
ALCS: BOS-CLEV
NLCS: ARI - COL
WS: BOS – COL
2006
Cactus
LAA: 20-11
SD: 18-10
KC: 17-10
COL: 17-12
Grapefruit
CINN: 22-11
FLA: 19-9
PHI: 19-11
CLEV: 20-12
ALCS: DET - OAK
NLCS: NYM - STL
WS: DET – STL
2005
Cactus
LAA: 21-11
SF-20-12
SD: 19-15
COL: 17-15
Grapefruit
TOR: 16-10
NYM: 17-11
STL: 17-11
BAL: 15-11
ALCS: CWS - LAA
NLCS: STL-HOU
WS: CWS-HOU
2004:
Cactus
SEA: 18-11
LAA: 19-13
MIL: 18-12
OAK: 19-14
Grapefruit
MINN: 20-12
MON: 18-11
BOS: 17-11
STL: 17-12
ALCS: NYY - BOS
NLCS: STL - HOU
WS: BOS – STL
2003
Cactus
KC: 19-8
CHC:17-11
AZ: 17-11
CWS: 17-13
(LAA: 9-20)
Grapefruit
CLEV: 19-11
MON: 17-10
MINN: 19-13
ATL: 17-12
ALCS: NYY - BOS
NLCS: FLA- CHC
WS: NYY – FLA
2002:
Cactus
AZ: 23-12
COL: 17-13
TEX: 18-13
SD: 18-15
Grapefruit
BAL: 20-9
HOU: 19-9
STL: 17-10
ATL: 17-15
ALCS: LAA - MINN
NLCS: SF-STL
WS: LAA-SF