Ranking All 30 MLB Franchises Over the Past 50 Years

The Rockies and the Marlins are the only two franchises without a division title.

The Good
Beginning on Sept. 16, 2007, the Rockies went on an incredible run. Buried, six and a half games out of the race with 14 games to play, Colorado won 13 of 14 to force a one-game playoff with the Padres for the division title. After winning that game in dramatic fashion in 13 innings, Colorado swept the Phillies 3-0 in the NLDS and disposed of Arizona 4-0 in the NLCS, which totaled 21 wins in 22 games to reach the World Series.

The Bad
While the Rockies have lost 90 or more games just four times, they’ve finished in the upper half of their division just three times in 19 seasons.

Key Number
4,483,350
The Rockies drew more than 4 million fans in their inaugural season as fans flocked to Mile High Stadium to watch their new team.

The only postseason appearance prior to 2012 came in 1981 in Montreal. The Expos finished first for half of the 1981 season, earning a spot in the playoffs. The first place standing in 1994 was all for naught. The Expos/Nationals have finished last 12 times.

The Good
The move from Montreal to Washington breathed badly needed life into the franchise. The lowest attendance in seven seasons in Washington was matched just five times in 36 seasons in Canada.

The Bad
The Expos had eight different starting pitchers on their first eight Opening Days from 1969-76. Steve Rogers was the first pitcher to make two Opening Day starts for the club.

Key Number
1
The Montreal/Washington franchise has won just one postseason series in its history. On Oct. 11, 1981, Steve Rogers twirled a 6-hit shutout to defeat the Phillies at the Vet in Game 5 of the best-of-five NLDS.
 

The Rays’ winning percentage is considerably worse than any other team, but two division titles in the Yankees’ division grab my attention.

The Good
9 = 8
The motto that manager Joe Maddon introduced in spring training in 2008. Nine guys playing hard, the right way, for nine innings would equal one of the eight teams in the postseason.

The Bad
For 10 seasons the Devil Rays finished in last place nine times, beating out the Toronto Blue Jays in 2004 by three games. The following season the team dropped Devil from its name and won its first division title.

Key Number
.454
The Rays’ all-time winning percentage. San Diego’s .463 ranks 29th.

Even after developing Ken Griffey, Alex Rodriguez and Randy Johnson, the M’s have no World Series appearances.

The Good
Behind AL MVP and Rookie of the Year Ichiro Suzuki and the hitting exploits of second baseman Bret Boone, the Mariners won an American League record 116 games in 2001.

The Bad
Seattle joins the Cubs and the Washington Nationals as the only franchises without a World Series appearance during this era.

Key Number
14
The Mariners played for 14 seasons and chewed up nine managers before enjoying their first winning season in 1991, finishing 83-79, good for fifth place in the seven-team AL West.

The awesomeness of Wrigley Field keeps the Cubs from threatening the bottom. Five division titles helps, but the Cubs have won just one postseason series.

The Good
Day baseball, the seventh inning stretch, views of Lake Michigan and the ivy.

The Bad
There are nine other clubs without a World Series win during the expansion era, but only one — the Cubs — has a drought of more than 100 years.

Key Number
8/8/88
The night the lights came on at Wrigley Field. Rick Sutcliffe was on the mound and threw the first pitch to the Phillies’ Phil Bradley. Bradley homered to left on the fourth pitch, and Morganna the Kissing Bandit made a brief appearance, but was intercepted before she could reach her victim, Ryne Sandberg in the batter’s box. The Cubs’ second baseman homered, but it was all for naught. After a two-hour, 10-minute rain delay in the fourth inning with the Cubs leading 3-1, the game was called. So the first official night game at Wrigley was a 6-4 Cubs win over the Mets on 8/9/88.

From brown and yellow, to orange and blue to camo unis to honor San Diego’s military heritage, there has been very little winning. Arizona has as many AL West titles in 15 seasons as San Diego has in 44.

The Good
Tony Gwynn, Mr. Padre, won eight batting titles, amassed 3,141 hits and batted .338 during his 20 seasons with the club.

The Bad
Of the four expansion teams in 1969, the Padres are the only one not to win at least 65 games in any of their first six seasons. The Royals won at least 65 in each of their first six years, while the Pilots/Brewers missed the total once, as did the Expos.

Key Number
38.6%
In their first 44 seasons, the Padres have finished in last place in the NL West 38.6 percent of the time.

It’s been all or nothing for the Marlins, mostly nothing. The club has never won a division title and has been to the postseason only twice, but somehow has two World Series titles.

The Good
The Marlins have ridden hot starting pitchers to two World Series titles. In 1997, Livan Hernandez won four games in the NLCS and World Series, earning MVP honors in both series. It was Josh Beckett in 2003 who led the Marlins to their second title. The Marlins won both of Beckett’s starts in the NLCS, including a two-hit shutout, then he defeated the Yankees with a shutout to clinch the World Series and capture the MVP award.

The Bad
South Florida fans have never really warmed up to the team. The Marlins have finished in the bottom three in NL in attendance every season since 1999. And with the franchise’s third major fire sale this winter (with 1997 and 2003 being the others), the club isn’t endearing itself to the community for 2013.

Key Number
3,064,847
The Marlins drew more than 3,000,000 fans during their inaugural season in 1993. They haven’t come within 700,000 of that number since then.

Moving from Seattle to Milwaukee and from the American League to the National League doesn’t do much for tradition. This is the only franchise to play in as many as four divisions. (AL West 1969-71, AL East 1972-93, AL Central 1994-97, NL Central 1998-present)

The Good
In 1981 and 1982, the Brewers swept the MVP and Cy Young awards in the American League. Rollie Fingers won both awards in 1981, then Robin Yount and Pete Vuckovich took the honors in 1982.

The Bad
Only three managers who managed a full season have led the Brewers to multiple winning seasons. Tom Trebelhorn did it three times, George Bamberger twice and Ron Roenicke just completed two winning campaigns.

Key Number
11
Hall of Famers Robin Yount and Paul Molitor were in the starting lineup together for 11 Opening Days.

It’s easy to rank a recent back-to-back pennant winner much higher, but only the Padres, Rays and Mariners have worse winning percentages.

The Good
The Rangers were one strike away from winning the World Series — on two occasions — before a pair of miraculous comebacks by St. Louis in 2011.

The Bad
The Rangers averaged just 8,538 fans a game during their first two seasons in Arlington, only about 500 more than their last season in Washington, D.C.

Key Number
35
First as the Washington Senators then as the Texas Rangers, the franchise played 35 seasons (1961-95) without reaching the postseason.

There was little to celebrate in Houston before the Killer Bs (Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio and Lance Berkman) showed up.

The Good
After losing Games 6 and 7 to St. Louis in the NLCS the year before, NLCS MVP Roy Oswalt twirled a gem for seven innings as the Astros defeated the Cardinals in Game 6 of the 2005 NLCS to win the National League pennant.

The Bad
After topping 100 losses for the first time ever in 2011 with 106, Houston followed that with 107 losses in 2012, its farewell season in the National League.

Key Number
10
For 10 consecutive seasons from 1975-84, the running Astros had more stolen bases than home runs.

All seven division titles have come since 1995. Prior to that, the Tribe never won as many as 90 in this era. Cleveland earns points for selling out 455 consecutive games to open Progressive Field (then Jacobs Field).

The Good
Behind the pitching of veteran Orel Hershiser, who was named ALCS MVP, the Indians defeated the Mariners to advance to the 1995 World Series after winning 100 games in a season shortened by a labor dispute.

The Bad
Since 1961, the Indians have never had an MVP, and Cleveland pitchers have won just three Cy Young awards. Of all the franchises that have been around that long, only Houston (one MVP, two Cy Young winners) has so few major award winners during this era.

Key Number
1,009
The Indians scored 1,009 runs in 1999, the only time in this era that a team has amassed 1,000 runs.

The Royals were a wildly successful expansion team through the 1970s, but inequitable economics have caused tough times in K.C.

The Good
In the late 1970s, George Brett blossomed into one of the best third basemen ever to play the game. He quickly became the most popular player in Kansas City — and still is.

The Bad
From 2004-07 the Royals had a run of last-place finishes in which they averaged just 61 wins and 34.5 games out of first place.

Key Number
7
All seven Kansas City postseason appearances came within a 10-year span from 1976-85.

The D-Backs enjoyed more friendly expansion rules than their predecessors. Arizona won its division in only its second season, and the Diamondbacks were World Series champs in their fourth year.

The Good
Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson dominated National League hitters in 2001-02.  They combined to win 45 games each season as Johnson won the Cy Young award both years and Schilling was runner-up.

The Bad
After five straight winning seasons, which included three division titles, the D’backs sank to an all-time low with just 51 wins in 2004.

Key Number
62
Players drafted by the Diamondbacks in 1996, two years before the club fielded its first major league team.

In the early 1990s, the Skydome was the place to be. More than 4 million fans enjoyed back-to-back World Series wins. But there have been just five postseason appearances total.

The Good
Hall of Famer Dave Winfield’s two-run double down the left field line off Charlie Leibrandt of the Braves in the 11th inning of Game 6 broke a 2-2 tie and provided the winning margin for the Blue Jays’ first World Series title. Toronto fans have certainly not forgotten Joe Carter’s walk-off home run to win the 1993 Series for a Canadian repeat.

The Bad
Toronto began its history with five consecutive last-place finishes in the AL East. The Jays have finished last three times since.

Key Number
1
Hall of Fame player representing the Toronto Blue Jays. That would be second baseman Roberto Alomar.

The White Sox own a .507 winning percentage and have 10 90-win seasons on their resume — but only one World Series appearance.

The Good
In their only World Series appearance of this era, the Sox swept the Astros in 2005.

The Bad
The shorts and big collars. While many teams were stretching the boundaries of uniform designs in the 1970s, the White Sox broke out shirts with wide collars and shorts. Not good.

Key Number
8
The Big Hurt, Frank Thomas, had eight straight seasons with more than 100 runs, RBIs and walks from 1991-98. He added a ninth such season in 2000.

Few teams have had as miserable of a run as the Mets did in the 1960s, and only seven teams have a lower winning percentage. But only seven teams have won more postseason series in this era.

The Good
During Davey Johnson’s six-year tenure as manager, the Mets averaged 96 wins a season, won two division titles and finished second four times. Prior to that, the team had a string of seven years of finishing last or next-to-last.

The Bad
New York is the only National League franchise that has been in existence since 1962 that cannot claim an MVP.

Key Number
6
The Mets have lost 100 games six times. Only the Washington Senators/Texas Rangers have as many 100-loss seasons.

Five of their eight division titles and their only World Series win have been under Mike Scioscia’s watch, which began in 2000.

The Good
The Angels won their only World Series in 2002 behind the pitching of rookie John Lackey in Game 7. Oh, and there was the flame-throwing 19-year-old Francisco Rodriguez, who was called up in September.

The Bad
Three promising stars had their lives ended prematurely by tragedy while members of the Angels. Mike Miley, the team’s first pick in 1974, gave up his senior season as LSU’s quarterback to play shortstop for the Angels. He died in a car crash in January 1977. Lyman Bostock was murdered during a road trip in Chicago in August 1978. In 2009, just hours after Nick Adenhart pitched six shutout innings to earn the first win of his career, the young pitcher was killed in a car accident when the car in which he was a passenger was struck by a drunk driver.

Key Number
5
The five best seasons in franchise history have come with Scioscia at the helm.

In the process of setting the North American team sports record of 20 consecutive losing seasons, the Bucs have been in a free fall.

The Good
The Pirates defeated the Baltimore Orioles in two Game 7s to win the 1971 and 1979 World Series. Both Game 7 wins came on the road. Hall of Famers Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell were World Series MVPs.

The Bad
The Pirates have yet to finish in the upper half of the NL Central in the 2000s. Even with a five-game lead in early September over Milwaukee for third place this past summer, the Bucs couldn’t end the streak, finishing fourth, four games behind the Brewers.

Key Number
5
The Bucs won five division titles in six years from 1970-75.

The Tigers are the owners of three 100-win seasons and four 100-loss seasons, including the 119-loss debacle in 2003. The double-play combo of Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker became one of the best-known in baseball from the late 1970s into the 1990s.

The Good
From 1978-88, the Tigers enjoyed 11 consecutive winning seasons.

The Bad
The Tigers went 18 seasons without any postseason play between 1987 and 2006. During that stretch, they had just three winning seasons and lost 103 or more games four times.

Key Number
3
Since expansion, the Tigers have had three pitchers (Denny McLain, Willie Hernandez and Justin Verlander) named AL MVP.

The Twins won the first two American League West titles (1969-70), and since 1987 the franchise has had just two managers, won two World Series and eight division crowns. Fans in Minneapolis were treated to a new team in 1961 without having to endure the pains of an expansion team.

The Good
Kirby Puckett’s 14th-inning home run to end Game 6 of the 1991 World Series will always be etched in Twins’ fans’ memories.

The Bad
The Twins suffered through eight straight losing seasons from 1993-2000, topping out with 78 wins in 1996.

Key Number
.388
Rod Carew’s batting average in 1977 as he fell short in a quest for .400. He was hitting .411 on July 1.

If this were 1975, the Phillies most certainly would be near the bottom of the National League teams. But they are one of only eight teams with double-digit division titles, with five of their 11 coming from 2007-11.

The Good
MVP and Cy. Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton led the Phillies to three straight NL East titles from 1976-78, and to two World Series appearances in 1980 and 1983.

The Bad
At 47-107 in 1961, the Phillies finished last in the National League standings, 17 games behind the Cubs, and last in attendance.

Key Number
14
Opening Day starts for Hall of Famer Steve Carlton in a Phillies uniform. The only season he was not the Opening Day starter was 1976, when manager Danny Ozark chose Jim Kaat instead.

Red Sox Nation finally witnessed the reverse of the curse in 2004. The Sox have never won 100 (in this era), and 12 teams have more than their seven division titles. But the .531 winning percentage is third.

The Good
With all their success and all the close calls, the Red Sox finally delivered in 2004 with a World Series sweep and repeated that sweep in 2007.

The Bad
Bucky Dent and Aaron Boone.

Key Number
8
Consecutive postseason wins in 2004 that brought Boston its first World Series title since 1918. The Red Sox overcame a three-games-to-none deficit to the Yankees in the ALCS, then proceeded to sweep the Cardinals in the World Series.

If this were 1980, the Reds would rival the Yankees, but the Marge Schott Era and tough economics have kept this proud franchise from reaching the top. Few traditions match their Opening Day parade.

The Good
The Big Red Machine of the 1970s became the face of the National League. From 1970-77, four Reds players were honored with six of the eight MVP awards.

The Bad
Even though the Reds had the best overall record in the NL West in 1981, they did not make the playoffs due to the split-season format caused by the players strike that wiped out more than a third of the season. The next two seasons Cincinnati finished with the worst record in the division.

Key Number
9
Number of players manager Sparky Anderson sent to the plate for the entire 1976 World Series, a sweep of the Yankees.

Willie Mays, Willie McCovey and Juan Marichal made for a fun first decade in San Francisco, but their presence led to just one World Series appearance. The Giants have been eliminated in Game 7 three times — once in the NLCS, and twice in the World Series. Oh yeah, then there’s the two World Series wins in the past three years.

The Good
The Giants have a way of being in contention. From 1997-2004, they played just 11 games that had no bearing on the postseason. During that time, the Giants won three division titles and a wild card.

The Bad
PEDs. Both real and innuendo. The Giants have had two players suspended for PED use — one of them twice — another caught with syringes, and the ever-present speculation about Barry Bonds.

Key Number
18
Seasons with 90 wins or more. Only two organizations can claim more.

The four world championships tie the Dodgers for third, and the A’s are no stranger to the postseason. However, when they’re not winning, they are really bad. The Athletics have four 100-loss seasons, and their .504 winning percentage ranks 10th. Franchise movement from Kansas City doesn’t help.

The Good
The players fought, they despised their owner with a vengeance, one manager left over a dispute with management, the players grew mustaches for bonuses and somehow found a way to win three World Series in a row from 1972-74. Oakland defeated the Big Red Machine in 1972, the mediocre Mets in 1973 and the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1974.

The Bad
In 1979, the A’s played 21 games in front of crowds of fewer than 2,000 fans. The low-water mark was 653 on April 17. The sparse crowd was treated to some excitement. After an intentional walk to Wayne Gross to load the bases with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Jim Essian singled home Mitchell Page off Seattle starter Odell Jones for a walk-off win. More noise was made on the field than in the stands, I’m sure.

Key Number
7
Seasons in Kansas City from 1961-67 when the A’s averaged just 65 wins per year. The move to Oakland in 1968 immediately yielded results with nine straight winning seasons including five straight division titles (1971-75) and three straight World Series titles.

From recent memory, this ranking is too high. But the Orioles won three of the six World Series in which they played, and only two franchises have more than their five 100-win seasons.

The Good
The Orioles, behind stellar pitching including a shutout by then 20-year-old Jim Palmer over Sandy Koufax, stunned the heavily favored Los Angeles Dodgers in a World Series sweep in 1966. That would be Koufax’s last appearance in a major league game.

The Bad
Led by managers Cal Ripken Sr. and Frank Robinson with Hall of Famers Cal Ripken Jr. and Eddie Murray, the Orioles established a dubious mark of losing their first 21 games in 1988.

Key Number
5
Hall of Famers who played primarily for the Orioles during this era: Brooks Robinson, Jim Palmer, Frank Robinson, Cal Ripken and Eddie Murray – plus manager Earl Weaver.

After a miserable few years in the late 1980s, the Braves had an incredible run from 1991 to 2005, winning their division every season played to completion. They played in four of five World Series, but won only a single title.

The Good
With a corps of young pitchers and the guiding hand of Bobby Cox, the Braves abruptly reversed their course in 1991 by going from last to first, which began a streak that would last until 2005.

The Bad
In 1996, the Braves took a 2-0 lead in the World Series over the Yankees with Atlanta set to host Games 3, 4 and 5. The Braves managed to lose four straight, which ended their quest to repeat as world champs.

Key Number
97
Average number of wins for the Braves from 2002-05, but they were 0-4 in playoff series during that time.

The men in blue are no strangers to October baseball having played in the postseason in the 1960s, ’70s, ’80s, ’90s and ’00s. However, they failed to win a postseason game in the ’90s and haven’t appeared in a World Series since 1988. Los Angeles also produces Rookies of the Year. From 1979-82 the Dodgers had four NL Rookies of the Year, then had another five in a row from 1992-96.

The Good
Fans in Los Angeles love their Dodgers. Since 1961, the club has led the National League in attendance 26 times. They were the first team to reach 3,000,000 in a single season, which was in 1978.

The Bad
The infamous ownership tenure of Frank McCourt and the ugly divorce with his wife Jamie threatened to tear apart the organization. As the proceedings came to a head in 2011, Dodgers attendance dropped below 3 million for the first time in 11 years.

Key Number
.535
The Dodgers have the second-best winning percentage behind the Yankees since 1961.

The Redbirds have the second-most appearances in the World Series and are runners-up with five championships in the expansion era.

The Good
During this era, iconic Hall of Famers Bob Gibson, Lou Brock and Ozzie Smith called St. Louis home, as did manager Whitey Herzog and future Hall of Famers Tony La Russa and Albert Pujols.

The Bad
The Cardinals went without a World Series title in both the 1970s and 1990s.

Key Number
1
Time the Cardinals finished in last place, 1990, during this era.

Whether it’s championships, tradition, stability, or just about any criteria you want to consider, the Yankees are on top. During the 52 years of the expansion era, the Yankees have won nine of the 15 World Series in which they’ve appeared, own 21 first-place finishes, and have won 90 or more games in more than half of the seasons during this era. With 26 playoff appearances, they have made the postseason half of the time, even though it seems like they make it every year.

The Good
The men in pinstripes have won 31 postseason series, more than any other franchise has played since 1961.

The Bad
There isn’t much, but from 1965-75 the Yanks missed the postseason every year. There also was no postseason baseball in the Bronx from 1982 through 1994.

Key Number
97
Average number of wins for the Yankees since 1996, the first season Joe Torre showed up as manager.

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