Best teams of 1991-1995
The 1995 Indians ranked first in the half-decade, yet failed to win a title
This newsletter has been rolling through baseball’s Modern Era on successive Mondays, ranking the best teams in each half-decade since 1961.
The top clubs in the previous six installments had one characteristic in common. They all won the World Series.
But that’s not true of the team atop today’s rankings for the period from 1991 to 1995.
The 1995 version of the Cleveland Indians breezed through the regular season, winning the American League Central Division by 30 games — 30 games! — over the runner-up Kansas City Royals. The Indians made it to the World Series, as everybody expected they would, only to lose to Atlanta.
Those ’95 Braves finished second in the 1991-1995 rankings. Why weren’t they No. 1? Because the regular-season stats clearly favored Cleveland, which won 10 more games than Atlanta and scored considerably more runs (5.83 per game vs. 4.48 for the Braves).
Follow these links to see the previous rankings: 1961-1965, 1966-1970, 1971-1975, 1976-1980, 1981-1985, and 1986-1990.
Today’s 1991-1995 standings, just like the previous ratings, are based on team score (TS), which is plotted on a 100-point scale. (Click here to read about the TS formula.)
Third through fifth places on the half-decade’s list went to the 1993 Toronto Blue Jays, the 1991 Minnesota Twins, and the 1992 Blue Jays.
Scroll below to see the list of the 10 best teams from 1991 to 1995. Each is shown with its win-loss record and the share of all 1,656 Modern Era clubs (1961-2022) that it outperformed, based on TS comparisons.
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1. Cleveland Indians (1995)
Record: 100-44
Team score: 87.220 points
Modern Era percentile: 99.3%
Manager: Mike Hargrove
Stars: Left fielder Albert Belle finished second in voting for the American League’s Most Valuable Player Award. He topped the league in home runs (50), runs scored (121), and runs batted in (126). Third baseman Jim Thome batted .314 and swatted 25 homers.
Bottom line: The 1995 season started late because of a labor dispute, yet the Indians still managed to notch 100 wins over a 144-game schedule. They sailed past the Boston Red Sox and Seattle Mariners in the AL playoffs, only to fall to Atlanta in the World Series.
2. Atlanta Braves (1995)
Record: 90-54
Team score: 84.662 points
Modern Era percentile: 98.7%
Manager: Bobby Cox
Stars: Pitching was the strength of the ’95 Braves. Greg Maddux went 19-2 with an earned run average of 1.63. He won the National League’s Cy Young Award. Two other members of Atlanta’s staff, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz, posted respective records of 16-7 and 12-7.
Bottom line: The Braves couldn’t match the gaudy regular-season stats of the aforementioned 1995 Indians, even though Atlanta emerged victorious from the six-game World Series. The TS rankings put the Braves slightly behind Cleveland in overall excellence.
3. Toronto Blue Jays (1993)
Record: 95-67
Team score: 82.767 points
Modern Era percentile: 98.1%
Manager: Cito Gaston
Stars: First baseman John Olerud won the American League’s batting title with a .363 average. Designated hitter Paul Molitor topped the league with 211 hits, propelling him to a second-place finish in the MVP balloting.
Bottom line: The Jays won their second consecutive World Series title in 1993. (Look below for the 1992 squad.) It didn’t come easily. Toronto didn’t take sole possession of first place in the AL East until September 10, but it went 25-8 the rest of the way (including the postseason).
4. Minnesota Twins (1991)
Record: 95-67
Team score: 82.261 points
Modern Era percentile: 98.0%
Manager: Tom Kelly
Stars: Center fielder Kirby Puckett batted .319, drove home 89 runs, and won a Gold Glove. Designated hitter Chili Davis coaxed 95 walks en route to an on-base average of .385, the best on the club.
Bottom line: The Twins had struggled mightly in 1990, finishing dead last in the AL West, so little was expected in 1991. Minnesota stunned the experts by rolling to a divisional title, knocking off Toronto in the ALCS, and squeaking past Atlanta in a seven-game World Series.
5. Toronto Blue Jays (1992)
Record: 96-66
Team score: 81.049 points
Modern Era percentile: 97.4%
Manager: Cito Gaston
Stars: Second baseman Roberto Alomar batted a solid .310, stole 49 bases, and scored 105 runs, leading the club in all three categories. Starting pitcher Jack Morris worked a staff-best 240.2 innings and posted a 21-6 record.
Bottom line: The Jays climbed into first place in the AL East on May 26 and never surrendered the lead. They won the American League Championship Series and World Series by identical 4-2 margins over the Oakland Athletics and Atlanta Braves.
Next five
6. Atlanta Braves (1992), 98-64, 97.2%
7. Atlanta Braves (1991), 94-68, 95.7%
8. Montreal Expos (1994), 74-40, 95.1%
9. Philadelphia Phillies (1993), 97-65, 94.0%
10. Pittsburgh Pirates (1991), 98-64, 93.9%