Every ballclub’s magic number

   May 3, 2022  Leave a Comment on Every ballclub’s magic number  Posted in Uncategorized

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

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