Will 'Sharknado 3' premiere propel Mariners, other teams to hot streaks?
This week could be important for the Seattle Mariners - extremely important, in fact.
After Tuesday night's big pinch-hit grand slam off the bat of Franklin Gutierrez propelled them to a thrilling 11-9 win over the Detroit Tigers, the M's could very well be on the cusp of a hot streak.
You see, 'Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!' will premiere on SyFy Wednesday night.
Yes, there's a relevance here. 'Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!' will be the third 'Sharknado' film to premiere on SyFy over the past three years, as the network has built something of an empire with these campy, over-the-top horror/comedy/shark tornado films starring the likes of Ian Ziering of 'Beverly Hills, 90210', Tara Reid, Mark McGrath of the band Sugar Ray and even Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban (who plays the President of the United States in the new film).
As Kenny Ducey of Hashtag Important found out - yes, he crunched the numbers - the Mariners, somehow, have gone 19-4 in the two weeks after the premieres of the previous two films in 2013 and 2014. For whatever reason (or perhaps coincidence if you don't care for this type of serious research), they just get going once a new movie premieres on SyFy.
Ducey's findings also showed that other aquatically-named MLB teams, specifically the Tampa Bay Rays, Miami Marlins and Pittsburgh Pirates, have combined to go 56-34, good for a .622 winning percentage, in the two weeks after the films were released.
In case you STILL aren't convinced of the movies' magical motivational power, the rest of MLB has gone 283-305, good for a cumulative winning percentage of .481, in the two weeks after the premieres of the first two films.
With the Mariners entering play Wednesday at 43-51, 10.5 games back of first in the AL West and 7.5 back of a Wild Card spot, a sustained hot streak (sparked by 'Sharknado' or just due to sheer calendar coincidence) would go a long way toward re-igniting their playoff hopes.
