Baltimore emerged as the capital of Major League Baseball in the latter half of the 1960s and the early 1970s.
The Orioles won four American League titles between 1966 and 1971, capped by World Series championships in ’66 and ’70.
Those latter squads rank as the two best to take the field during the span of 1966-1970, the half-decade we’re examining today in our continuing analysis of the Modern Era’s best teams. (Click here to see last Monday’s breakdown of the 1961-1965 period, which also included an explanation of the rating formula.)
Three separate versions of those Orioles rank among the top 1 percent of all 1,656 clubs that played in the Modern Era between 1961 and 2022.
Atop the list is Baltimore’s 1966 team, which is eighth in the overall standings and first in the 1966-1970 period. The 1970 Orioles are just a step behind — ninth in the entire Modern Era, second in the half-decade. And the 1969 version stands 17th on the master list and fourth in this particular five-year span.
Look below for a rundown of the 10 highest-rated clubs from 1966 to 1970. Each is shown with its win-loss record and its Modern Era percentile, the share of 1961-2022 teams that it outranks. All rankings are based on team scores, which are plotted on a 100-point scale.
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1. Baltimore Orioles (1966)
Record: 97-63
Team score: 88.282 points
Modern Era percentile: 99.6%
Manager: Hank Bauer
Stars: Frank Robinson, a 30-year-old right fielder, was obtained in a December 1965 trade with Cincinnati. The Reds reportedly believed he was too elderly to be of much use. Robinson promptly won the Triple Crown and was unanimously elected the American League’s Most Valuable Player. His teammate and namesake, third baseman Brooks Robinson, was the runner-up in MVP balloting.
Bottom line: The Orioles entered the World Series as heavy underdogs against the Los Angeles Dodgers, who had just won their third National League title in four years. But Baltimore’s young pitching staff delivered three straight shutouts in a four-game sweep.
2. Baltimore Orioles (1970)
Record: 108-54
Team score: 87.901 points
Modern Era percentile: 99.5%
Manager: Earl Weaver
Stars: The 1970 Orioles were bolstered by the same mainstays as their 1966 predecessors: the two Robinsons, slugging first baseman Boog Powell, and starting pitchers Jim Palmer and Dave McNally. Powell emerged as the AL’s MVP with 35 homers and 114 runs batted in.
Bottom line: The Orioles were virtually unstoppable in 1970. They won the AL East by 15 games over the second-place Yankees, swept the Twins in the AL Championship Series, and subdued the Cincinnati Reds in a five-game World Series.
3. Detroit Tigers (1968)
Record: 103-59
Team score: 87.102 points
Modern Era percentile: 99.2%
Manager: Mayo Smith
Stars: Young pitcher Denny McLain had posted a mediocre 17-16 record the previous year, so his 1968 breakout was completely unexpected. McLain won 31 games, making him the first pitcher since Dizzy Dean in 1934 to reach 30. Left fielder Willie Horton blasted 36 homers.
Bottom line: The Tigers had fallen short of the American League pennant by a single game in 1967, but they left no room for doubt in 1968. They outpaced the rest of the league by 12 games in the regular season, then came back from a 3-1 deficit to defeat St. Louis in the seventh game of the World Series.
4. Baltimore Orioles (1969)
Record: 109-53
Team score: 86.161 points
Modern Era percentile: 99.0%
Manager: Earl Weaver
Stars: Minnesota’s Harmon Killebrew was the American League’s MVP in 1969, though three Orioles finished among the top eight vote-getters: Boog Powell, Frank Robinson, and pitcher Mike Cuellar.
Bottom line: The Orioles posted what was easily the best record in the majors in 1969. No other team came closer than nine victories to Baltimore’s total of 109. There was just one problem. The O’s somehow became unhinged in the World Series, losing to the upstart New York Mets, four games to one.
5. St. Louis Cardinals (1967)
Record: 101-60
Team score: 84.556 points
Modern Era percentile: 98.6%
Manager: Red Schoendienst
Stars: First baseman Orlando Cepeda drove home 111 runs and won the National League’s MVP trophy. Curt Flood batted a solid .335 and earned the Gold Glove as the league’s best defensive center fielder.
Bottom line: The Boston Red Sox shocked the baseball world by winning the American League pennant in 1967. It was commonly assumed that the powerful Cardinals would make short work of the Sox in the World Series, though they actually needed seven games. Bob Gibson notched three of St. Louis’s four wins.
Next five
6. St. Louis Cardinals (1968), 97-65, 98.2%
7. Cincinnati Reds (1970), 102-60, 97.2%
8. Los Angeles Dodgers (1966), 95-67, 93.8%
9. Boston Red Sox (1967), 92-70, 93.6%
10. New York Mets (1969), 100-62, 93.2%