Every ballclub’s magic number
Take a look at the greatest squads to represent all 30 franchises in the Modern Era
Every franchise has a magic number. A few clubs are lucky enough to have several.
The New York Yankees, for example, have won nine world championships since the Modern Era began in 1961. Each of those titles excited their fan base, but some were a bit more special than others.
Perhaps the greatest of New York’s squads played in 1998, when the Yanks set a franchise record by winning 114 regular-season games and sweeping the San Diego Padres in the World Series.
The special nature of New York’s 1998 club is confirmed by my calculations of team scores. Those Yankees finished with a TS of 96.123 on a 100-point scale, putting them behind only the 1984 Detroit Tigers in my rankings of the 1,626 squads that have taken the field in the Modern Era.
TS, as you may recall, is based on four factors: winning percentage, the differential between runs scored and allowed per game, the differential between bases per out attained by batters and allowed by pitchers, and postseason success. Click here to learn more.
I’ve used team scores to pinpoint the best annual performance by each franchise since 1961. Some choices were difficult. The St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers have won five world championships apiece in the Modern Era. Which of their seasons were the best? The answers, according to TS, were 1967 for the Cardinals and 2020 for the Dodgers.
Other selections were obvious even before I crunched the numbers. The 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks, 2002 Anaheim Angels, 2005 Chicago White Sox, 2016 Chicago Cubs, 2017 Houston Astros, and 2019 Washington Nationals scored the only world titles during the era for their organizations. And yes, each of those particular teams finished as the TS leader for its respective franchise.
The rundown below encapsulates the best seasons in the Modern Era for all 30 big-league organizations, as determined by TS. You’ll see each club’s win-loss record (with winning percentage in parentheses), its team score, the percentage of the era’s other 1,625 teams that it outperformed, its per-game averages for runs scored and allowed, and its postseason outcome.
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Arizona Diamondbacks
Best season: 2001
Record: 92-70 (.568)
Team score: 81.168 points
Era percentile: 97.5%
Runs per game: 5.05 scored, 4.18 allowed
Postseason: World Series title
Atlanta Braves
Also known as: Milwaukee Braves
Best season: 1995
Record: 90-54 (.625)
Team score: 84.662 points
Era percentile: 98.7%
Runs per game: 4.48 scored, 3.75 allowed
Postseason: World Series title
Baltimore Orioles
Best season: 1966
Record: 97-63 (.606)
Team score: 88.282 points
Era percentile: 99.6%
Runs per game: 4.72 scored, 3.76 allowed
Postseason: World Series title
Boston Red Sox
Best season: 2007
Record: 96-66 (.593)
Team score: 85.711 points
Era percentile: 99.0%
Runs per game: 5.35 scored, 4.06 allowed
Postseason: World Series title
Chicago Cubs
Best season: 2016
Record: 103-58 (.640)
Team score: 92.166 points
Era percentile: 99.8%
Runs per game: 4.99 scored, 3.43 allowed
Postseason: World Series title
Chicago White Sox
Best season: 2005
Record: 99-63 (.611)
Team score: 75.291 points
Era percentile: 94.8%
Runs per game: 4.57 scored, 3.98 allowed
Postseason: World Series title
Cincinnati Reds
Best season: 1975
Record: 108-54 (.667)
Team score: 90.713 points
Era percentile: 99.7%
Runs per game: 5.19 scored, 3.62 allowed
Postseason: World Series title
Cleveland Guardians
Also known as: Cleveland Indians
Best season: 1995
Record: 100-44 (.694)
Team score: 87.220 points
Era percentile: 99.3%
Runs per game: 5.83 scored, 4.22 allowed
Postseason: AL pennant
Colorado Rockies
Best season: 2007
Record: 90-73 (.552)
Team score: 75.518 points
Era percentile: 95.0%
Runs per game: 5.28 scored, 4.65 allowed
Postseason: NL pennant
Detroit Tigers
Best season: 1984
Record: 104-58 (.642)
Team score: 97.109 points
Era percentile: 100.0%
Runs per game: 5.12 scored, 3.97 allowed
Postseason: World Series title
Houston Astros
Also known as: Houston Colt .45s
Best season: 2017
Record: 101-61 (.623)
Team score: 84.140 points
Era percentile: 98.5%
Runs per game: 5.53 scored, 4.32 allowed
Postseason: World Series title
Kansas City Royals
Best season: 2015
Record: 95-67 (.586)
Team score: 75.761 points
Era percentile: 95.3%
Runs per game: 4.47 scored, 3.96 allowed
Postseason: World Series title
Los Angeles Angels
Also known as: California Angels, Anaheim Angels
Best season: 2002
Record: 99-63 (.611)
Team score: 77.467 points
Era percentile: 96.1%
Runs per game: 5.25 scored, 3.98 allowed
Postseason: World Series title
Los Angeles Dodgers
Best season: 2020
Record: 43-17 (.717)
Team score: 94.085 points
Era percentile: 99.8%
Runs per game: 5.82 scored, 3.55 allowed
Postseason: World Series title
Miami Marlins
Also known as: Florida Marlins
Best season: 1997
Record: 92-70 (.568)
Team score: 73.229 points
Era percentile: 93.4%
Runs per game: 4.57 scored, 4.13 allowed
Postseason: World Series title
Milwaukee Brewers
Also known as: Seattle Pilots
Best season: 1982
Record: 95-67 (.586)
Team score: 74.675 points
Era percentile: 94.3%
Runs per game: 5.47 scored, 4.40 allowed
Postseason: AL pennant
Minnesota Twins
Best season: 1991
Record: 95-67 (.586)
Team score: 82.261 points
Era percentile: 98.0%
Runs per game: 4.79 scored, 4.02 allowed
Postseason: World Series title
New York Mets
Best season: 1986
Record: 108-54 (.667)
Team score: 94.962 points
Era percentile: 99.9%
Runs per game: 4.83 scored, 3.57 allowed
Postseason: World Series title
New York Yankees
Best season: 1998
Record: 114-48 (.704)
Team score: 96.123 points
Era percentile: 99.9%
Runs per game: 5.96 scored, 4.05 allowed
Postseason: World Series title
Oakland Athletics
Also known as: Kansas City Athletics
Best season: 1990
Record: 103-59 (.636)
Team score: 89.366 points
Era percentile: 99.6%
Runs per game: 4.52 scored, 3.52 allowed
Postseason: AL pennant
Philadelphia Phillies
Best season: 2008
Record: 92-70 (.568)
Team score: 78.344 points
Era percentile: 96.6%
Runs per game: 4.93 scored, 4.20 allowed
Postseason: World Series title
Pittsburgh Pirates
Best season: 1971
Record: 97-65 (.599)
Team score: 87.094 points
Era percentile: 99.2%
Runs per game: 4.86 scored, 3.70 allowed
Postseason: World Series title
St. Louis Cardinals
Best season: 1967
Record: 101-60 (.627)
Team score: 84.556 points
Era percentile: 98.6%
Runs per game: 4.32 scored, 3.46 allowed
Postseason: World Series title
San Diego Padres
Best season: 1998
Record: 98-64 (.605)
Team score: 70.298 points
Era percentile: 91.2%
Runs per game: 4.62 scored, 3.92 allowed
Postseason: NL pennant
San Francisco Giants
Best season: 2002
Record: 95-66 (.590)
Team score: 77.832 points
Era percentile: 96.4%
Runs per game: 4.83 scored, 3.80 allowed
Postseason: NL pennant
Seattle Mariners
Best season: 2001
Record: 116-46 (.716)
Team score: 81.959 points
Era percentile: 97.9%
Runs per game: 5.72 scored, 3.87 allowed
Postseason: AL playoff qualifier
Tampa Bay Rays
Also known as: Tampa Bay Devil Rays
Best season: 2020
Record: 40-20 (.667)
Team score: 77.699 points
Era percentile: 96.3%
Runs per game: 4.82 scored, 3.82 allowed
Postseason: AL pennant
Texas Rangers
Also known as: Washington Senators
Best season: 2011
Record: 96-66 (.593)
Team score: 78.226 points
Era percentile: 96.5%
Runs per game: 5.28 scored, 4.18 allowed
Postseason: AL pennant
Toronto Blue Jays
Best season: 1993
Record: 95-67 (.586)
Team score: 82.767 points
Era percentile: 98.2%
Runs per game: 5.23 scored, 4.58 allowed
Postseason: World Series title
Washington Nationals
Also known as: Montreal Expos
Best season: 2019
Record: 93-69 (.574)
Team score: 76.595 points
Era percentile: 95.6%
Runs per game: 5.39 scored, 4.47 allowed
Postseason: World Series title