Q: How do you calculate a team's magic number (or more specifically, how do you calculate the Cleveland Indians' magic number)?

Talkin' baseball: Why, don't mind if I do.

A: The magic number (the number of wins + opponent losses a team needs to clinch the playoffs) can be calculated via this guy's method — essentially:

M# = 163 - W_team-1 - L_team-2

Thus the Cleveland Indians' Magic Number over the Detroit Tigers, per today's standings, is (163 - 83 [CLE wins] - 66 [DET losses]), or 14.

Baseball Prospectus' magical robotic prediction machines put our odds at making the playoffs at 97.5% (on Aug. 15th, it was 49.5%, so the past few weeks have gone about as well as possible, unless you're a Tigers fan, in which case, sorry).

The way we're playing now, behind the pitching of Sabathia, Carmona and Westbrook, we should have a shot against anyone in October. Unfortunately, "anyone" will probably turn out to be both the Yankees and Red Sox, both of whom terrify me.

(Specifically what terrifies me is the prospect of the unbearable pain of losing to either one of those loathsome teams' loathsome fan bases. But then, beating both teams in one postseason would be eventually looked back upon as the greatest accomplishment of our entire mutual lives, so it's an exciting kind of terror).

Yes, it's a great time to be a Cleveland sports fan. Too bad we don't have a football team, or this fall would be really exciting!

Because four of you care, here are some Cleveland sports blogs worth subscribing to:

• Let's Go Tribe
  
• Mistake by the Lake Sporting Times
• Vinny & the Hornless Rhino
• Many Go; Few Understand
• Brian Windhorst's Cavaliers Blog
• Why Wahoo Weeps [pending me starting it]

And Joe Posnanski's The Soul of Baseball is great no matter which team you follow.

Q: What are you doing in my absence?

A: Crying hysterically, I know.

Sorry things've been so quiet on the T.A.M.S.Y. front this past week. I'm trying to get some actual work done. You know, just for the sake of variety. In the meantime, take a look at the new additions to my sidebar, now featuring three delightful RSS feeds for your perusing pleasure:

Baby: "Holy shit, I love RSS feeds!!!"

(1) T.A.M.S.Y.-Tested News + Notes: Hand-picked highlights from around the blogosphere. Updated multiple times per day, except for when I forget.

(2) Falcor's Posse Has an RSS Feed: The latest in bloggage from the people I know, love and/or want to put it to. Updated IN REAL TIME!!! courtesy of modern technology.

(3) Cleveland Sports Heroin Needle: Everything you need to know about the latest crippling Browns loss, failed Indians free-agent signing or lawsuit involving LeBron James' mom. Also updated in real time, so you won't have to miss a single agonizing detail.

What this means for you, loyal readers, is that even when I'm too busy / lazy / depressed / drug-addled / deceased to blog, you can always rely on The Answer May Surprise You for sexy new content to distract you from your suffocating livelihood. Hurray for my generosity.

The RSS feeds are all made possible by my girlfriend Google. Get started with your own Google Reader account, and someday you too will know the joy of forcing content on your acquaintances.

Oh, yeah, I've also added FREE Snap Preview Anywhere^TM capabilities to the site, which you may have already noticed if you hovered your cursor over any of these links. This feature falls somewhere between "annoying" and "merely useless," I can't quite decide.