Baseball’s Greatest and Worst Teams

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When talk turns to the greatest baseball team of all time, most baseball fans will nominate the 1927 New York Yankees. Not only did that team post a won-lost record of 110-44, for a W-L percentage of .714, but its roster featured several future Hall-of-Famers: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Herb Pennock, Waite Hoyt, Earl Combs, and Tony Lazzeri. As it turns out, the 1927 Yankees didn’t have the best record in “modern” baseball, that is, since the formation of the American League in 1901. Here are the ten best seasons (all above .700), ranked by W-L percentage:

Team Year G W L W-L%
Cubs 1906 155 116 36 .763
Pirates 1902 142 103 36 .741
Pirates 1909 154 110 42 .724
Indians 1954 156 111 43 .721
Mariners 2001 162 116 46 .716
Yankees 1927 155 110 44 .714
Yankees 1998 162 114 48 .704
Cubs 1907 155 107 45 .704
Athletics 1931 153 107 45 .704
Yankees 1939 152 106 45 .702

And here are the 20 worst seasons, all below .300:

Team Year G W L W-L%
Phillies 1945 154 46 108 .299
Brown 1937 156 46 108 .299
Phillies 1939 152 45 106 .298
Browns 1911 152 45 107 .296
Braves 1909 155 45 108 .294
Braves 1911 156 44 107 .291
Athletics 1915 154 43 109 .283
Phlllies 1928 152 43 109 .283
Red Sox 1932 154 43 111 .279
Browns 1939 156 43 111 .279
Phillies 1941 155 43 111 .279
Phillies 1942 151 42 109 .278
Senators 1909 156 42 110 .276
Pirates 1952 155 42 112 .273
Tigers 2003 162 43 119 .265
Athletics 1919 140 36 104 .257
Senators 1904 157 38 113 .252
Mets 1962 161 40 120 .250
Braves 1935 153 38 115 .248
Athletics 1916 154 36 117 .235

But it takes more than a season, or even a few of them, to prove a team’s worth. The following graphs depict the best records in the American and National Leagues over nine-year spans:

Centered nine-year W-L record, best AL

Centered nine-year W-L record, best NL

For sustained excellence over a long span of years, the Yankees are the clear winners. Moreover, the Yankees’ best nine-year records are centered on 1935 and 1939. In the nine seasons centered on 1935 — namely 1931-1939 — the Yankees compiled a W-L percentage of .645. In those nine seasons, the Yankees won five American League championships and as many World Series. The Yankees compiled a barely higher W-L percentage of .646 in the nine seasons centered on 1939 — 1935-1943. But in those nine seasons, the Yankees won the American League championship seven times — 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1941, 1942, and 1943 — and the World Series six times (losing to the Cardinals in 1942).

Measured by league championships, the Yankees compiled better nine-year streaks, winning eight pennants in 1949-1957, 1950-1958, and 1955-1963. But for sheer, overall greatness, I’ll vote for the Yankees of the 1930s and early 1940s. Babe Ruth graced the Yankees through 1934, and the 1939 team (to pick one) included future Hall-of-Famers Bill Dickey, Joe Gordon, Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehring (in his truncated final season), Red Ruffing, and Lefty Gomez.

Here are the corresponding worst nine-year records in the two leagues:

Centered nine-year W-L record, worst AL

Centered nine-year W-L record, worst NL

The Phillies — what a team! The Phillies, Pirates, and Cubs should have been demoted to Class D leagues.

What’s most interesting about the four graphs is the general decline in the records of the best teams and the general rise in the records of the worst teams. That’s a subject for another post.