ALCS

So the ALCS, for those who do not know is the American League Championship Series, and pits the surprise Tampa Bay Rays against the perennial powerhouse Boston Red Sox. The series starts this Friday, and the Rays have homefield advantage (four games will be played at Tropicana Field, and three games at Fenway). The homefield advantage plays a significant role in this series because of the home crowd. Simply stated, the Rays win at home when they play in front of big crowd (30,000 or more). The Rays went 21-2 this season at home with both losses being in front of less than 30,000 cheering fans.
To think that the crowd has no effect on the Rays would be naive. They are perfect when playing under the big stage. The power of the cheering crowd may give the Rays a moral boost in close games, or just keep them pumped through the whole game hearing 30,000 people cheer their names. Whatever the effect is that the crowd has on this surprise team, it is clear that the winning calculation for the Rays demands a crowd.
This loosely ties in with the wisdom of crowds in that the Rays are drawing from the crowd to play more competively. Come Friday, I will be sitting in front of my TV rooting for the Rays hoping that the power of the crowd rises to the occasion and lifts them into the World Series instead of the Red Sox.
-Statistics from www.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081007&content_id=3601052&vkey=ps2008news&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb