So this is why your team is good (or lousy).
I decided to crunch the numbers for all 30 MLB teams from
1960 onward, similar to what I did for
the NFL a year ago. Here are the
stats:
|
Year
|
Regular Season Wins
|
Regular Season Losses
|
Regular Season Winning
Pct.
|
95+ Win Seasons
|
95+ Loss Seasons
|
|
|
New
York Yankees
|
4992
|
3925
|
0.5598
|
23
|
1
|
|
|
Los
Angeles Dodgers
|
4798
|
4131
|
0.5374
|
10
|
1
|
|
|
St.
Louis Cardinals
|
4731
|
4186
|
0.5306
|
10
|
0
|
|
|
Boston
Red Sox
|
4708
|
4219
|
0.5274
|
11
|
1
|
|
|
Cincinnati
Reds
|
4651
|
4272
|
0.5212
|
9
|
3
|
|
|
Baltimore
Orioles
|
4637
|
4274
|
0.5204
|
13
|
7
|
|
|
Milwaukee/Atlanta
Braves
|
4621
|
4282
|
0.5190
|
11
|
6
|
|
|
San
Francisco Giants
|
4634
|
4297
|
0.5189
|
6
|
2
|
|
|
Chicago
White Sox
|
4499
|
4422
|
0.5043
|
5
|
4
|
|
|
Kansas
City/Oakland Athletics
|
4491
|
4438
|
0.5030
|
10
|
8
|
|
|
Los
Angeles/California/Anaheim Angels
|
4403
|
4377
|
0.5015
|
5
|
2
|
|
|
Detroit
Tigers
|
4462
|
4469
|
0.4996
|
6
|
7
|
|
|
Philadelphia
Phillies
|
4425
|
4444
|
0.4989
|
5
|
10
|
|
|
Pittsburgh
Pirates
|
4439
|
4475
|
0.4980
|
9
|
8
|
|
|
Toronto
Blue Jays
|
3078
|
3115
|
0.4970
|
4
|
4
|
|
|
Washington
Senators/Minnesota Twins
|
4430
|
4495
|
0.4964
|
5
|
5
|
|
|
Arizona
Diamondbacks
|
1444
|
1482
|
0.4935
|
2
|
4
|
|
|
Houston
Colt .45s/Astros
|
4206
|
4413
|
0.4880
|
3
|
9
|
|
|
Cleveland
Indians
|
4344
|
4569
|
0.4874
|
4
|
6
|
|
|
Kansas
City Royals
|
3623
|
3852
|
0.4847
|
3
|
9
|
|
|
Montreal
Expos/Washington Nationals
|
3610
|
3868
|
0.4827
|
3
|
7
|
|
|
New
York Mets
|
4128
|
4480
|
0.4796
|
6
|
13
|
|
|
Texas
Rangers
|
4182
|
4582
|
0.4772
|
2
|
11
|
|
|
Seattle
Pilots/Milwaukee Brewers
|
3569
|
3912
|
0.4771
|
3
|
5
|
|
|
Chicago
Cubs
|
4244
|
4679
|
0.4756
|
3
|
10
|
|
|
Florida/Miami
Marlins
|
1714
|
1944
|
0.4686
|
0
|
4
|
|
|
Seattle
Mariners
|
2898
|
3295
|
0.4679
|
1
|
11
|
|
|
Colorado
Rockies
|
1709
|
1955
|
0.4664
|
0
|
4
|
|
|
Tampa
Bay Devil Rays/Rays
|
1352
|
1562
|
0.4640
|
2
|
7
|
|
|
San
Diego Padres
|
3472
|
4016
|
0.4637
|
1
|
11
|
|
|
Year
|
Post-season Game Wins
|
Post-season Game Losses
|
Post-season Winning Pct.
|
League Champs (Pennants)
|
World Series Champs
|
Average Seasons In
Playoffs
|
|
New
York Yankees
|
138
|
106
|
0.5656
|
16
|
9
|
48.21%
|
|
Los
Angeles Dodgers
|
59
|
67
|
0.4683
|
8
|
4
|
33.93%
|
|
St.
Louis Cardinals
|
103
|
90
|
0.5337
|
10
|
5
|
33.93%
|
|
Boston
Red Sox
|
66
|
66
|
0.5000
|
6
|
3
|
26.79%
|
|
Cincinnati
Reds
|
40
|
36
|
0.5263
|
6
|
3
|
21.43%
|
|
Baltimore
Orioles
|
52
|
39
|
0.5714
|
6
|
3
|
21.43%
|
|
Milwaukee/Atlanta
Braves
|
63
|
71
|
0.4701
|
5
|
1
|
32.14%
|
|
San
Francisco Giants
|
57
|
46
|
0.5534
|
6
|
3
|
19.64%
|
|
Chicago
White Sox
|
15
|
14
|
0.5172
|
1
|
1
|
8.93%
|
|
Kansas City/Oakland
Athletics
|
58
|
57
|
0.5043
|
6
|
4
|
32.14%
|
|
Los
Angeles/California/Anaheim Angels
|
27
|
37
|
0.4219
|
1
|
1
|
18.18%
|
|
Detroit
Tigers
|
39
|
37
|
0.5132
|
4
|
2
|
16.07%
|
|
Philadelphia
Phillies
|
48
|
46
|
0.5106
|
5
|
2
|
21.43%
|
|
Pittsburgh
Pirates
|
32
|
39
|
0.4507
|
3
|
3
|
23.21%
|
|
Toronto
Blue Jays
|
26
|
26
|
0.5000
|
2
|
2
|
15.38%
|
|
Washington
Senators/Minnesota Twins
|
25
|
39
|
0.3906
|
3
|
2
|
19.64%
|
|
Arizona
Diamondbacks
|
17
|
16
|
0.5152
|
1
|
1
|
27.78%
|
|
Houston
Colt .45s/Astros
|
24
|
38
|
0.3871
|
1
|
0
|
18.52%
|
|
Cleveland
Indians
|
35
|
34
|
0.5072
|
2
|
0
|
14.29%
|
|
Kansas
City Royals
|
39
|
34
|
0.5342
|
4
|
2
|
19.15%
|
|
Montreal
Expos/Washington Nationals
|
9
|
11
|
0.4500
|
0
|
0
|
6.38%
|
|
New
York Mets
|
51
|
37
|
0.5795
|
5
|
2
|
14.81%
|
|
Texas
Rangers
|
21
|
28
|
0.4286
|
2
|
0
|
12.73%
|
|
Seattle
Pilots/Milwaukee Brewers
|
14
|
18
|
0.4375
|
1
|
0
|
8.51%
|
|
Chicago
Cubs
|
12
|
27
|
0.3077
|
0
|
0
|
12.50%
|
|
Florida/Miami
Marlins
|
22
|
11
|
0.6667
|
2
|
2
|
8.70%
|
|
Seattle
Mariners
|
15
|
19
|
0.4412
|
0
|
0
|
10.26%
|
|
Colorado
Rockies
|
9
|
10
|
0.4737
|
1
|
0
|
13.04%
|
|
Tampa
Bay Devil Rays/Rays
|
12
|
17
|
0.4138
|
1
|
0
|
22.22%
|
|
San
Diego Padres
|
12
|
22
|
0.3529
|
2
|
0
|
10.64%
|
1) Not surprisingly, the New York Yankees have been the best
team during that span. I was a little
surprised by how far in front they
were – their winning percentage of .5598 is over 20 percentage points ahead of
the next team, the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Yankees, Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals, Boston Red Sox, and
Cincinnati Reds currently fill out the top five.
2) Expansion teams are at a huge disadvantage. Of the fourteen teams that have been added
from 1961 on, only one has an overall winning percentage above .500 – the Los
Angeles/California/Anaheim Angels, who checked in at #11 with a .5015 winning
percentage. No other expansion team is
over .500 overall. Further, only two of
the original 16 teams are below the Arizona Diamondbacks at #17 – the Cleveland
Indians (#19) and the Chicago Cubs (#25).
3) The worst teams? Congratulations, San Diego: your Padres are horrible! With a .4637 overall winning percentage, they
check in at #30, with Tampa Bay, Colorado, Seattle, and the Florida/Miami
Marlins in order as the next worst teams.
The Padres have had a history of misguided owners (C. Arnold Smith! The Krocs, Ray and Joan! Tom Werner and Marcy Carsey!), which hasn’t
helped. That said, I expect Colorado to
make it to the bottom in the next couple of years, as the Padres seem to be
straightening out their issues (slowly), while the Monfort brothers have been
and will likely continue to run the Rockies further into the ground.
4) One of the guides to how good or bad your team has been
is 95-win or 95-loss seasons. Obviously,
a huge number of bad seasons in a row creates a gigantic hole to dig out
of. My New York Mets are a prime example
of this – they lost 95 or more games each of their first six seasons, and had a
winning percentage of .348 (that’s not a typo) from 1962 to 1968. They’re nine games under .500 since then, but
that’s an awfully big hole.
5) The Yankees, not surprisingly, have the most 95-win
seasons, with 23 out of the 56 seasons from 1960 to 2015. The Yankees, Dodgers, Cardinals, and Red Sox
have combined for 54 95-win seasons during that span, with only three 95-loss
seasons in the debit column. The Mets
have the most 95-loss seasons overall at 13 – but they also have the most
95-win seasons among the expansion teams with six. Feast or famine. The Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners, and San
Diego Padres have eleven 95-loss seasons apiece, which is most embarrassing to
the Mariners, given they’ve only been around since 1977.
6) As you might guess, the Yankees have also won 138
post-season (playoff and World Series) games, more than any other team, with
the Cardinals in second. (Those teams
also rank first and second in post-season losses, but it’s better to be there
than not.) Win percentage in the
postseason is quite different, however – the Florida Marlins actually have the
best postseason winning percentage at .667, thanks to their two fluky World
Series wins in 1997 and 2003 (they’ve never been in the postseason any other
year). And the Mets, as lousy as they’ve
been at times in the regular season, have the second best postseason winning
percentage at .580. Worst goes to the
Chicago Cubs (with their three wins and five losses this past year, they were
able to bring their winning percentage up to .308), followed by the Padres.
7) The Yankees have also won the most pennants (16) and
World Series (9) during this time period, with the Cardinals in second in both
categories. Among the expansion teams,
the Mets have won the most pennants with five, and are in a four-way tie with
Kansas City, Toronto, and Florida/Miami with two World Series wins apiece. The Expos/Nationals franchise is tied with
Seattle and the Cubs for the futility record – no pennants, no World Series.
8) Finally, the Yankees have been in the postseason an
astonishing 48 percent of the time, with the Dodgers and Cardinals checking in
by making the postseason 34 percent of the time. The Arizona Diamondbacks have the best record
among the expansion teams by making the playoffs 28 percent of the time – but that’s
a bit misleading; their sample size is smaller (18 years) and there are a lot more
playoff spots now than there were 30 or 50 years ago. The Nationals, Brewers, and Marlins bring up
the rear – along with the Chicago White Sox, even though their overall winning
percentage is over .500.
