Best franchises of the Modern Era

Things haven’t gone all that well for the New York Yankees for the past decade or so. Yes, they finished every season since 2010 with an above-.500 record. And yes, they made the playoffs nine times over that period.

But they didn’t win a single World Series, not even an American League championship. That’s not the Yankees’ way.

The perspective changes, however, if we examine baseball’s Modern Era (1961-2021) in its entirety. There can be no denying that the Yanks have been the dominant team over that 61-year span.

New York won the first two World Series of the era — crushing the Cincinnati Reds in 1961 and squeaking past the San Francisco Giants the following year.

That pair of titles surpassed the totals for 13 other organizations throughout the Modern Era, including five clubs that were created in 1961 or before: the Chicago Cubs, the crosstown White Sox, and the Los Angeles Angels (one world championship apiece) and the Cleveland Indians/Guardians and Washington Senators/Texas Rangers (none at all).

But the Yankees didn’t stop in 1962.

They went on to win two more World Series in the 1970s, three in the 1990s, and an additional pair during the first decade of the 21st century, raising their final flag in 2009. Their nine world titles between 1961 and 2021 nearly doubled the next best total, five each for the Los Angeles Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals.

The Yanks also set the pace for the Modern Era in league championships (15), playoff appearances (32), and regular-season winning percentage (.560).

So it comes as no surprise that New York holds first place in my rankings of the best franchises in the Modern Era. Here’s how I determined the scores:

A franchise was awarded two points for each league championship between 1961 and 2021.
It received an additional three points for each world title.
Each year’s regular-season record was graded on a scale from plus-five to minus-five, as determined by its team score. TS is based on four factors: winning percentage, the differential between runs scored and allowed per game, the differential between bases per out (BPO) attained by batters and allowed by pitchers, and postseason success (if any). If a club’s TS for a given year was 90 or higher, it earned five points. Every downward step of 10 on the TS scale reduced the point total by one, with anything under 50 landing in negative territory.

The highest possible score for a single season was 10 points. The 1998 Yankees, for instance, won the American League and the World Series with a TS of 96.123. That earned the full allotment for that season.

The worst score was minus-five. The Detroit Tigers, to cite one example, received a minus-five for their 53-109 record in 1996, which yielded a pitiful TS of 5.197.

Each club’s annual totals were added for the entire Modern Era, then divided by the number of seasons. Six of the 30 organizations have been in existence for 45 years or less, and it wouldn’t be fair to compare their total scores with those for clubs that played throughout the era. Average scores level the field.

The Yankees are on top of my standings with 2.18 points per year. They’re followed by the Dodgers (1.75) and Cardinals (1.16), the only other franchises to boast at least five world championships since 1961.

Scroll down to see statistical breakdowns for the 15 most successful franchises of the Modern Era. They collectively won more than three-quarters of the span’s World Series — 47 of 60. The list includes all eight franchises with at least three post-1960 world titles.

I’m saving the other 15 organizations — the ones that haven’t fared so well — for Friday’s rundown of the era’s worst.

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1. New York Yankees

Seasons: 61
Regular-season record: 5,398-4,235 (.560)
Era average: 2.18 points per year
Playoffs: 32
League titles: 15
World titles: 9

2. Los Angeles Dodgers

Seasons: 61
Regular-season record: 5,258-4,388 (.545)
Era average: 1.75 points per year
Playoffs: 25
League titles: 11
World titles: 5

3. St. Louis Cardinals

Seasons: 61
Regular-season record: 5,113-4,518 (.531)
Era average: 1.16 points per year
Playoffs: 22
League titles: 10
World titles: 5

4. Boston Red Sox

Seasons: 61
Regular-season record: 5,137-4,506 (.533)
Era average: 0.90 points per year
Playoffs: 19
League titles: 7
World titles: 4

5. Atlanta Braves

Also known as: Milwaukee Braves
Seasons: 61
Regular-season record: 4,983-4,644 (.518)
Era average: 0.48 points per year
Playoffs: 23
League titles: 6
World titles: 2

6. San Francisco Giants

Seasons: 61
Regular-season record: 4,992-4,655 (.517)
Era average: 0.38 points per year
Playoffs: 13
League titles: 6
World titles: 3

7. Cincinnati Reds

Seasons: 61
Regular-season record: 4,976-4,663 (.516)
Era average: 0.31 points per year
Playoffs: 13
League titles: 6
World titles: 3

8. Oakland Athletics

Also known as: Kansas City Athletics
Seasons: 61
Regular-season record: 4,893-4,752 (.507)
Era average: 0.18 points per year
Playoffs: 21
League titles: 6
World titles: 4

9. Baltimore Orioles

Seasons: 61
Regular-season record: 4,890-4,737 (.508)
Era average: 0.16 points per year
Playoffs: 13
League titles: 6
World titles: 3

10. Toronto Blue Jays

Seasons: 45
Regular-season record: 3,506-3,557 (.496)
Era average: -0.09 points per year
Playoffs: 8
League titles: 2
World titles: 2

11. Arizona Diamondbacks

Seasons: 24
Regular-season record: 1,840-1,946 (.486)
Era average: -0.25 points per year
Playoffs: 6
League titles: 1
World titles: 1

12. Houston Astros

Also known as: Houston Colt .45s
Seasons: 60
Regular-season record: 4,725-4,764 (.498)
Era average: -0.27 points per year
Playoffs: 15
League titles: 4
World titles: 1

13. (tie) Detroit Tigers

Seasons: 61
Regular-season record: 4,752-4,891 (.493)
Era average: -0.30 points per year
Playoffs: 9
League titles: 4
World titles: 2

13. (tie) Philadelphia Phillies

Seasons: 61
Regular-season record: 4,774-4,866 (.495)
Era average: -0.30 points per year
Playoffs: 12
League titles: 5
World titles: 2

15. Chicago White Sox

Seasons: 61
Regular-season record: 4,819-4,817 (.500)
Era average: -0.36 points per year
Playoffs: 7
League titles: 1
World titles: 1