The Red Sox played even better baseball in May than they did in April—
and (once again) our readers have noticed. Our May reading of the
Dalton Jones Industrial Average rose 1.9 points to
111.9. Leading the way were reader ratings of the team's juggernaut
offense (91.6) and solid
defense (89.5).
Relief pitching was given a raw score of 66.8, while (predictably)
starting pitching scored lowest at 53.4.
FenwayNation offers its readers this monthly reading of
"The Mood Of The Nation" through our exclusive
Dalton Jones Industrial Average—which 'crunches' all of those raw scores into a single Index Value. Named for the all-time Red Sox pinch-hit leader, the average is a composite index of four key metrics:
starting pitching,
relief pitching,
total offense and
total defense. The editors invite readers from around the world to weigh in every month on the state of the team. The Index number—and its fluctuation up or down—has proven, over the years, to be a pretty accurate bellwether of actual team status.
