List of best Major League Baseball season win-loss records

Listed below are the Major League Baseball teams with the best season win-loss records, as determined by winning percentage (.700 or better), minimum 120 games played.

Season records

The following teams finished the season with a .700 winning percentage or higher.

Since the season was expanded to 162 games in 1961, only two teams have managed a winning percentage of .700 or higher (which requires 114 or more wins): the 1998 New York Yankees and the 2001 Seattle Mariners.

Legend
Season Franchise League Wins Losses Pct. Games Played Finish
1906Chicago CubsNL11636.763152Lost 1906 World Series
1902Pittsburgh PiratesNL10336.741139National League Champions
1886Chicago White StockingsNL9034.726124Lost 1886 World Series
1909Pittsburgh PiratesNL11042.724152Won 1909 World Series
1954Cleveland IndiansAL11143.721154Lost 1954 World Series
2001Seattle MarinersAL11646.716162Lost 2001 ALCS
1927New York YankeesAL11044.714154Won 1927 World Series
1886Detroit WolverinesNL8736.7071232nd place in National League
1897Boston BeaneatersNL9339.705132Lost 1897 Temple Cup
1907Chicago CubsNL10745.704152Won 1907 World Series
1931Philadelphia AthleticsAL10745.704152Lost 1931 World Series
1998New York YankeesAL11448.704162Won 1998 World Series
1887St. Louis BrownsAA9540.704135Lost 1887 World Series
1939New York YankeesAL10645.702152Won 1939 World Series

Pre-1886 teams

With shorter schedules before 1886, it was much more common for teams to finish with .700 or better winning percentages, as there was less of the evening-out effect of a longer season, and some seasons had multiple teams, with three in 1884 (between the three leagues that year) and in 1885.

In the list below (minimum 15 games played), six teams finished with better overall winning percentages than the 1906 Cubs, three being in the early years of the National league, and the other three in leagues whose status as "major" is questionable: two in the National Association, whose status as a major league has long been disputed, and the other in the Union Association, which is conventionally listed as a major league, but this has been questioned due to the league's overall lack of playing talent and poor organizational structure.

In addition, contemporary baseball guides did not consider the Union Association to be a major league: the earliest record referencing the Union Association as a major league dates to 1922.[1])

Legend
  • NA = National Association
  • NL = National League
  • AA = American Association
  • UA = Union Association
Season Franchise League Wins Losses Pct. Games played Finish
1875 Boston Red Stockings NA 71 8 .899 79 National Association Champions
1884 St. Louis Maroons UA 94 19 .832 113 Union Association Champions
1872 Boston Red Stockings NA 39 8 .830 47 National Association Champions
1880 Chicago White Stockings NL 67 17 .798 84 National League Champions
1876 Chicago White Stockings NL 52 14 .788 66 National League Champions
1885 Chicago White Stockings NL 87 25 .777 112 Tied 1887 World Series
1885 New York Giants NL 85 27 .759 112 2nd National League
1871 Philadelphia Athletics NA 21 7 .750 28 National Association Champions
1884 Providence Grays NL 84 28 .750 112 Won 1884 World Series
1874 Boston Red Stockings NA 52 18 .743 70 National Association Champions
1873 Boston Red Stockings NA 43 16 .729 59 National Association Champions
1875 Philadelphia Athletics NA 53 20 .726 73 3rd National Association
1885 St. Louis Browns NL 79 33 .705 112 Tied 1887 World Series
1876 St. Louis Brown Stockings NL 45 19 .703 64 3rd National League
1879 Providence Grays NL 59 25 .702 84 National League Champions
1884 New York Metropolitans AA 75 32 .701 107 Lost 1884 World Series
1877 Boston Red Caps NL 42 18 .700 60 National League Champions

The all-time best single season record belongs to the Cincinnati Red Stockings, who posted baseball's only perfect record at 67–0 (57–0 against National Association of Base Ball Players clubs) in 1869, prior to Major League baseball. Their record would stretch to 81–0 across the 1870 season before losing 8–7 in eleven innings to the Brooklyn Atlantics in Brooklyn on June 14.[2][3]

See also

References
  1. Baseball Prospectus | Unfiltered
  2. History: Legend of the Cincinnati Red Stockings webpage. 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings Vintage Base Ball Team website (2007). Cincinnati Vintage Base Ball Club. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
  3. "Reds Timeline". Cincinnati Reds. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.