I think Goldman would call the Rockies making the World Series a 25 standard deviation event. A couple of stats from an article over on ESPN.com:
“Clearly, they had to believe, or they couldn’t have done this, right?
Couldn’t have become the fifth team in the last 70 years to go 21-1 in any stretch of any season.
Couldn’t have become the first team to do that in the middle of one of these mad charges to, and through, October.
Couldn’t have become the second team in history (along with just the 1976 Big Red Machine) to sweep its first two postseason series in any given October.
Couldn’t have become the fifth team of all time to make it from last place one year to the World Series the next.
Couldn’t have become the sixth team in history to fall nine games under .500 and still climb out of that canyon to make it to the World Series.
And, finally, couldn’t have become the first team ever to find itself two games out of a playoff spot with two games to play and somehow survive to scramble into the World Series.
That didn’t really happen. Did it? That wasn’t really possible. Was it?”
