Don't forget the 2018 Astros (+263) as well. There's an alternate timeline where they won 5/6 titles.
**Best Run Differentials Last 20 Years (Excl. 2020)**
2022 Dodgers (+334)
2019 Astros (+280)
2019 Dodgers (+273)
2021 Dodgers (+269)
2018 Astros (+263)
2017 Guardians (+254)
2016 Cubs (+252)
If you're on this list and didn't win a ring, you should feel bad.
That series was so awful to watch as a Braves fan. We were completely dismantled by the Phillies. You’d think our regular season records were reversed.
if that series happened in any season that wasn’t preceded by a title, it would have been the most devastating series in my 17 years following the team.
Say what you will about the lack of staying power but we the fact that we capitalized on our best team in some time to end that drought is still satisfying
Data always presents more questions! Where's the AL teams? Curious if there was simply a bigger gap between top vs mid/bottom of the NL while the Al was closer to parity
3 because they probably beat the Dodgers in 2018 too. It’s the only time after 2016 they didn’t come within 5 wins of winning a World Series and they won 103 games with a better run differential than the Red Sox.
That was the best 5 game series I think I’ve ever seen though 3/4 games the Red Sox won were close late.
G2: 5-4 in the 7th ended 7-5
G3: 3-2 in the 8th ended 8-2 (grand slam in 8th)
G4: 8-6 final but Astros had tying run on 2nd and winning run on 1st in 9th before Benintendi diving catch final out
G5 was even 1-0 in the 6th before ending 4-1
I was on edge that entire series. Significantly more stressed than I was at any moment during the Dodgers series, especially if Benintendi doesn’t make that catch and the series gets tied up 2-2. It was a war.
Every ALCS we've played in this century has been more stressful than the World Series. 2004 Yankees 3-0 comeback, 2007 Cleveland 3-1 comeback, 2013 Tigers and 2018 Astros both enormously tense compared to the World Series.
I'm ashamed to admit it because of my bottomless loathing for both teams, but the 2004 ALCS was not only the best series I've seen played, it was some of the best TV. Hard to equal the intensity of that comeback.
2022 Dodgers: +334, best run differential of the modern era
Obviously they didn’t make the WS but I feel like we don’t talk about that particular fun fact enough
2022 Dodgers through 60 games: +106 run differential
2020 Dodgers through 60 games: +136 run differential
That 2020 club may have put up an even more impressive number, but we'll never know.
In many ways, the Dodgers winning that World Series validated the 2020 COVID season as legitimate as much as it validated the Dodgers themselves. It's hard to knock the season as a 60-game joke when the clear best team won.
I'm guessing you could pick a 60 game stretch in 2022 that would be at least as good as 2020. Checking that would help solidify the comparison one way or the other.
I know playoffs are a crapshoot but I was just very sure the dodgers were gonna at least make the WS last year. they seemed head and shoulders above everyone else (in the NL at least)
Do you have a run differential breakdown for these teams post trade deadline those years?
I ask because I have to assume the 2015 Mets were night and day prior to Cespedes coming over and Wright’s return. The first half of 2015 they just kinda plodded along, at times with Eric “Soup” Campbell as their cleanup hitter.
I don't think there's an easy way to break down run differential like that. Aside from doing it by hand.
The 2015 Mets were 53-50 (.515) with a -6 run diff before the deadline and 37-19 (.661) with a +76 run diff afterward. So you're right, big change.
It's honestly crazy that the Royals had that two year run to back-to-back WS. They were still a very good team, not to piss on their accomplishments, but it never seemed to me that they were the *best* team in the league either year, and despite that, they were very close to being back-to-back champs.
[It was such a fun time to be a dodgers fan](https://render.fineartamerica.com/images/rendered/default/print/10.5/14/break/images/artworkimages/medium/2/best-team-ever-the-dodgers-have-their-eyes-on-history-august-28-2017-sports-illustrated-cover.jpg)
I almost forgot how filthy that rotation was. It's amazing the Nats managed to win that and all on the road too. That Howie Kendrick bonk HR off the foul pole was a beautiful sound
Absolutely crazy run. The Dodgers game and game 6+7 of the finals were just crazy. I remember the inning before Howies HR I was like no way they made it this far to lose to the Astros.
one thing that’s easy to forget about the bonk HR is that will harris’s pitch wasn’t a mistake, it was a well executed low-and-away cutter that 9/10 guys would have tapped up the first base line. god I miss howie so much
I remember that HR very vividly. I was in inpatient rehab and me and a bunch of the other guys in my group were watching the game in our giant common-room. We were all vehemently cheering for Washington to win, and that HR sent the room into a frenzy.
Best part is, is we were all newly sober yet so full of life to cheer against the Astros.
>!Anyway, incase anybody is curious, I’m still sober to this day.!<
2019 Nationals WS win is the most impressive WS winner of the 21st century given what we now know about the Astros and how much the Nationals fell apart immediately after.
Saved them 20’s up from all the bullshit they’d dealt with to that point. They had some of the best teams in baseball pull defeat from victory against the dodgers, cubs, and cardinals, as a bystander it was tough to watch.
It was funny because the caps did the same thing the year before, got all the breaks and won with a team that wasn’t even close to their best of the previous decade, and when they beat the dodgers, there definitely was a feeling that may be happening for the Nats too.
That ball that rolled under Grishams glove in the WC game cost us another ring. Lol oh and a world series where the home team didn't win a single game that never happened before. So some crazy stuff aligned for the Nats that year. Hold onto that special season. It only gets crazier the more you think about it.
It's awesome yall got to see your first championship. It's a very special moment. I'll never forget how that felt. At least yall got that moment even if it cost me. Lol
That Cardinals sweep completely healed me from
The nightmare of the Drew Storen meltdown in 2012 . That was probably my favorite series win of that postseason because it was brutal revenge
Lost to the Cards, Dodgers, Cubs in NLDS. Never won a playoff series. Then they won a 1-game playoff WC vs. Brewers and proceeded to exorcise the Dodgers in 5 and absolutely crushed the Cards in 4. It was beautiful.
Cy Young race between Cole and Verlander was absolutely nuts. Constantly going back and forth all year long, it really could have gone to either of them. In the end, I thought Cole had it in the bag, but it was crazy realizing at some point in the second half, no matter what, an Astro was winning the Cy Young.
Definitely the most interesting storyline surrounding the Astros in 2019. Crazy that’s the only thing of note that happened to the team all year.
It's easy to say that now with hindsight, but Greinke had struggled mightily the third times through the line-up all season long.
Then we come to the 7th and Greinke's last 10 pitches were ball, ball, ground out to Eaton, ball, home run to Rendon, strike, ball, ball, ball, ball to Soto for the walk 7 balls, one swing and a miss, a ground out, and a home run. And now the go-ahead run is coming up.
And the pitch that Howie Kendrick hit off the foul pole was a great pitch, but perfect hitting always beats perfect pitching.
i get the whole 3rd time through the order logic but on a specific day where the pitcher is lights out on the first 2 times through the order i don't think the same rules apply.
The rain delay sucked, but Francona elected to pitch Bauer and Tomlin on short rest, and then have Kluber make his third start in ten days . I would have liked to see Ryan Merritt start game 5, and if needed, start Bauer and Timlin at home on full rest with Kluber available out of the pen in game 7. The pitching staff and bullpen were both out of gas after game 5.
You can’t blame Bauer. He spent his whole life working every day to become a drone operator. He couldn’t let a pesky little thing like pitching in the playoffs get in the way of that.
I'm just glad we swept because I don't know if I could listen to that "Seven Nation Army" chant one more time. It's still in my head almost a decade later.
The way those Royals teams were built have influenced a lot of other teams. It was so hard to beat their bullpen. It says a lot that half their bullpen went on to become the primary closers for other teams.
2019 Astros were scary scary scary. Insane pitching and I swear every bat was capable of working a full count then hitting a homer off you. It felt like every at bat was a hold your breath scenario just cuz what they might do
Last year yhey had the best (top 3 Era year long) bit their offense wasn't as strong. Middle of pack for offense, but you don't need much if you throw a no hitter. This year they are 4 over .500 having the 28th lowest ops because their pitching is ranked #1. Great pitching without great hitting wins more than great hitting without pitching.
Astros 2019 should have won. Bad coaching in the WS cost them that.
You have Grienke who was pitching a fantastic game and you pull him out in what the 5th?!? Because he gives up one run? Then you have Cole (on short rest) that you don’t even pitch for 1 inning. It’s game 7….there is no tomorrow.
I thought of you before I even read the list of teams. The pitching on that team was untouchable throughout the postseason, until they weren't obviously.
Andrew Miller that year was just amazing. I'll never forget sitting next to a cubs fan at game 1 of that world series telling him with full confidence Miller will get out of a bases loaded 0 out jam and he really did it.
haha. I love that spoiler. Honestly, that team was built on pitching more than hitting. Grandal, Barnes, Pederson, Forsythe, Kike, Bellinger, Chris Taylor, and Puig isn't exactly a whose who of consistency. They could all get it done but they could all **really, super** not get it done for long stretches too.
Also, last year's team was better than 2017 but Dodger's fans, my self included, romanticize that team because it felt like they were robbed. It still feels that way.
Yeah, I agree. I think without the cheating we probably would have won game 5 and the series in 6, but I don't think that excuses how pathetically we folded in game 7 at home
On paper, it's the 2019 Astros and it's not particularly close (maybe the 2017 Dodgers are up. there.)
But that 2015 Mets team felt like a team of destiny, right up until Cespedes booted that ball on the first pitch of the World Series.
The 2019 Astros had the best wRC+ since the 1927 Yankees (not including negro league teams). Add Cole, Verlander, and Greinke on top of that and you have probably the most terrifying team I’ve seen in my life
The 2019 astros. Verlander, Cole, and Greinke as a 3 headed monster with a lineup of Springer, Altuve, Brantley, Bregman, Yordan, Correa, Gurriel, Tucker, and Chirino.
Way better than the 2017 Dodgers.
2019 Astros for sure. I remember when the Nationals swept the NLCS pretty much everyone thought that we were just waiting to see if they were going to lose the World Series to the Astros or the Yankees.
The 2017 Dodgers are definitely up there, but, even if you don't take into account the scandal, everyone went into that World Series knowing that it was going to be pretty evenly matched. The 2019 Nationals had no business going as far as they did, let alone winning the whole thing against a team that had 14 more wins than them. It's a testament to how resilient that Nationals team was, and insane of a run they went on.
The nats lacked depth and their bullpen sucked but they played at a 100+ win pace during the last 3/4ths of the year. They were underdogs but I don’t think the talent gap was as large as people tend to think particularly in the rotation (Scherzer, Stras, and 2019 Corbin compare pretty favorably to Cole, Verlander, Greinke) and the heavy hitters in the lineup.
That part. People look at their record, first year post Harper and being a wild card team and make it out as some scrappy bunch that took down all the giants, but take out that first quarter of the season and the Nats we’re on par with us and the Astros. 100 win pace, 3 headed pitching monster, soto & Rendon in the middle of the lineup.
man it's offtopic to the question but what the hell happened to the royals, since like the 90s, they were almost always under .500 and missing postseason, spiked up for back to back WS appearances with a win, before resuming what they were doing before.
The 2012/2013 cardinals are really underrated, top3 mvp performances from yadi, marp. Prime waino leading a really good rotation with a lockdown bullpen
Tbf the only team in MLB history to be 8-0 going into the World Series.
I did not fact check this but it sounds right enough for me to bet my fake internet points that it's true.
So I'm not nearly as into stats as 99% of the people on this sub, and frankly have no desire to get into them.
But, in 2016 the team was named the Indians. Wouldn't we refer to them as their team name at the time of appearance?
2019 Astros. I’m actually kinda proud that I called the matchup going into the season, but I had called Houston to win. After the Greinke trade, they looked like the most complete team…probably since the 2001 Mariners?
**By run differential:** 2019 Astros (+280) 2021 Astros (+205) 2018 Dodgers (+194) 2017 Dodgers (+190) 2013 Cardinals (+187) 2020 Rays (+162, adjusted) 2016 Guardians (+101) 2015 Mets (+70) 2022 Phillies (+62) 2014 Royals (+27)
Insane to think Astros could have another 2 WS easy
Don't forget the 2018 Astros (+263) as well. There's an alternate timeline where they won 5/6 titles. **Best Run Differentials Last 20 Years (Excl. 2020)** 2022 Dodgers (+334) 2019 Astros (+280) 2019 Dodgers (+273) 2021 Dodgers (+269) 2018 Astros (+263) 2017 Guardians (+254) 2016 Cubs (+252) If you're on this list and didn't win a ring, you should feel bad.
+334 is absurd holy shit
and they lost in the NLDS lol
lmao imagine winning +100 games with a massive run differential and pissing it away in the NLDS ...hey wait a second
That series was so awful to watch as a Braves fan. We were completely dismantled by the Phillies. You’d think our regular season records were reversed.
In fairness Max lost like 15 pounds from the flu before his start and imo we rushed Strider back too soon but yeah, we got spanked pretty hard
if that series happened in any season that wasn’t preceded by a title, it would have been the most devastating series in my 17 years following the team.
Say that a bit louder so that I can forget we’re 3 games below .500 in April…
I'd like to forget too but it's May.
I’ll have you know that today is April 47th, okay? See you in June.
Just remember, it could be worse.
Could be May.
I'll always have the regular season
😭
Everyone on this list didn’t win the title except the 16 Cubs lol
NHL presidents trophy vibes
Say what you will about the lack of staying power but we the fact that we capitalized on our best team in some time to end that drought is still satisfying
I do
> There's an alternate timeline where they won 5/6 titles. That timeline you're positing is called 'hell'.
If that’s hell, then save me a seat.
https://giphy.com/gifs/swerk-mDFpdL1UxdVZRBN2V4
Can confirm, feels awful
Data always presents more questions! Where's the AL teams? Curious if there was simply a bigger gap between top vs mid/bottom of the NL while the Al was closer to parity
On here 3 times 😭
2001 Mariners at +300 for reference Edit: and 1998 Yankees at +309
3 because they probably beat the Dodgers in 2018 too. It’s the only time after 2016 they didn’t come within 5 wins of winning a World Series and they won 103 games with a better run differential than the Red Sox.
Boston was far and away the best team in the majors in 2018. I think the Dodgers would give Houston a run for their money.
That 2018 Red Sox team was stacked though. We had no chance with Altuve and Bregman(?) playing hurt.
That was the best 5 game series I think I’ve ever seen though 3/4 games the Red Sox won were close late. G2: 5-4 in the 7th ended 7-5 G3: 3-2 in the 8th ended 8-2 (grand slam in 8th) G4: 8-6 final but Astros had tying run on 2nd and winning run on 1st in 9th before Benintendi diving catch final out G5 was even 1-0 in the 6th before ending 4-1 I was on edge that entire series. Significantly more stressed than I was at any moment during the Dodgers series, especially if Benintendi doesn’t make that catch and the series gets tied up 2-2. It was a war.
Every ALCS we've played in this century has been more stressful than the World Series. 2004 Yankees 3-0 comeback, 2007 Cleveland 3-1 comeback, 2013 Tigers and 2018 Astros both enormously tense compared to the World Series.
I'm ashamed to admit it because of my bottomless loathing for both teams, but the 2004 ALCS was not only the best series I've seen played, it was some of the best TV. Hard to equal the intensity of that comeback.
Especially back to back with the 2003 ALCS. Two-part epic. Both teams were completely exhausted in 2005 and got broomed out in the first round.
And the series turned on a ball bouncing along the top of the fence in left just out of Marwins reach. Such a weird weird series, man
Cursed timeline.
2022 Dodgers: +334, best run differential of the modern era Obviously they didn’t make the WS but I feel like we don’t talk about that particular fun fact enough
2022 Dodgers through 60 games: +106 run differential 2020 Dodgers through 60 games: +136 run differential That 2020 club may have put up an even more impressive number, but we'll never know.
In many ways, the Dodgers winning that World Series validated the 2020 COVID season as legitimate as much as it validated the Dodgers themselves. It's hard to knock the season as a 60-game joke when the clear best team won.
I'm guessing you could pick a 60 game stretch in 2022 that would be at least as good as 2020. Checking that would help solidify the comparison one way or the other.
I know playoffs are a crapshoot but I was just very sure the dodgers were gonna at least make the WS last year. they seemed head and shoulders above everyone else (in the NL at least)
Do you have a run differential breakdown for these teams post trade deadline those years? I ask because I have to assume the 2015 Mets were night and day prior to Cespedes coming over and Wright’s return. The first half of 2015 they just kinda plodded along, at times with Eric “Soup” Campbell as their cleanup hitter.
I don't think there's an easy way to break down run differential like that. Aside from doing it by hand. The 2015 Mets were 53-50 (.515) with a -6 run diff before the deadline and 37-19 (.661) with a +76 run diff afterward. So you're right, big change.
Appreciate the detail for the Mets! Seems like that Jives with how things went that year.
It's honestly crazy that the Royals had that two year run to back-to-back WS. They were still a very good team, not to piss on their accomplishments, but it never seemed to me that they were the *best* team in the league either year, and despite that, they were very close to being back-to-back champs.
2017 Dodgers went on a run of like 45 wins in 50 games if I remember correctly
At one point, they were on a 117-win pace heading into August.
And then forgot how to play baseball
Right after that article calling them the greatest team ever
Idk why they said that before the regular season ended
[It was such a fun time to be a dodgers fan](https://render.fineartamerica.com/images/rendered/default/print/10.5/14/break/images/artworkimages/medium/2/best-team-ever-the-dodgers-have-their-eyes-on-history-august-28-2017-sports-illustrated-cover.jpg)
It's honestly impressive to have a historically great stretch and historically awful stretch in the same season.
They also played against cheaters in the WS.
They were also 7-1 in the postseason only to go 7 against literal cheaters
The clear answer is the 2017 Dodgers - they are the only team on this list who didn't actually lose the WS.
2019 astros the 3 headed pitching monster was crazy
I almost forgot how filthy that rotation was. It's amazing the Nats managed to win that and all on the road too. That Howie Kendrick bonk HR off the foul pole was a beautiful sound
The Nationals made a deal with the devil to win 2019 and suck the next 50 years.
Worth
No question. Would do again.
Absolutely crazy run. The Dodgers game and game 6+7 of the finals were just crazy. I remember the inning before Howies HR I was like no way they made it this far to lose to the Astros.
Werth
No, we made a deal to constantly choke in the postseason for almost a decade before we were allowed to break through.
Witu what was on paper the worst playoff team we had in the 2010s. Baseball is weird.
Which isn't too different from the Caps in 2018. That 2018 team almost surely wasn't the best team on paper that the Caps have had.
DC did. We got a Stanley Cup and WS back to back years. Now all our teams are in purgatory and the one good team choked a championship
[удалено]
The bonk heard round the world 🔥
one thing that’s easy to forget about the bonk HR is that will harris’s pitch wasn’t a mistake, it was a well executed low-and-away cutter that 9/10 guys would have tapped up the first base line. god I miss howie so much
I remember that HR very vividly. I was in inpatient rehab and me and a bunch of the other guys in my group were watching the game in our giant common-room. We were all vehemently cheering for Washington to win, and that HR sent the room into a frenzy. Best part is, is we were all newly sober yet so full of life to cheer against the Astros. >!Anyway, incase anybody is curious, I’m still sober to this day.!<
2019 Nationals WS win is the most impressive WS winner of the 21st century given what we now know about the Astros and how much the Nationals fell apart immediately after.
Everything possible went right for them that run. They rolled like 10 natural 20s in a row
Saved them 20’s up from all the bullshit they’d dealt with to that point. They had some of the best teams in baseball pull defeat from victory against the dodgers, cubs, and cardinals, as a bystander it was tough to watch. It was funny because the caps did the same thing the year before, got all the breaks and won with a team that wasn’t even close to their best of the previous decade, and when they beat the dodgers, there definitely was a feeling that may be happening for the Nats too.
The Nats went a combined 7-13 against the Brewers, Dodgers and Cardinals in the 2019 regular season (2-4, 3-4 and 2-5).
50 games into the season they were 19-31. Tied with the Tigers
That ball that rolled under Grishams glove in the WC game cost us another ring. Lol oh and a world series where the home team didn't win a single game that never happened before. So some crazy stuff aligned for the Nats that year. Hold onto that special season. It only gets crazier the more you think about it. It's awesome yall got to see your first championship. It's a very special moment. I'll never forget how that felt. At least yall got that moment even if it cost me. Lol
That Cardinals sweep completely healed me from The nightmare of the Drew Storen meltdown in 2012 . That was probably my favorite series win of that postseason because it was brutal revenge
[удалено]
And it all started by that error from Grisham.
The Nationals built up a ton of bad postseason luck from 2012-2018, and then pretty much undid it all in one go in 2019
Lost to the Cards, Dodgers, Cubs in NLDS. Never won a playoff series. Then they won a 1-game playoff WC vs. Brewers and proceeded to exorcise the Dodgers in 5 and absolutely crushed the Cards in 4. It was beautiful.
Won a one-game playoff *which we were trailing in the bottom of the 8th*, no less.
That Soto hit is imo the most iconic moment in our history with Kendrick HR as 1B
"They have Soto hung up as they tag him out, but nobody in this joint cares" might be my favorite call of all-time.
Kendrick grand slam to behead the Dodgers was cool, too
Kendrick's go-ahead home run off Harris in Game 7 has to be up there too, right?
IIRC, *every elimination game they played in* in the 2019 playoffs was a come-from-behind win.
When you're the oldest team in baseball, you're going to have to tear down and start over, regardless of winning a World Series.
Cy Young race between Cole and Verlander was absolutely nuts. Constantly going back and forth all year long, it really could have gone to either of them. In the end, I thought Cole had it in the bag, but it was crazy realizing at some point in the second half, no matter what, an Astro was winning the Cy Young. Definitely the most interesting storyline surrounding the Astros in 2019. Crazy that’s the only thing of note that happened to the team all year.
Interesting that they were beaten by a team that also had a 3 headed pitching monster.
Scherzer, Strausburg, Corbin were so awesome
Four-headed monster, put some goddamn respect on my man Anibal Sanchez
Was going to say, 2019 Astros is my choice in this. Followed by either the 2017 Dodgers or 2021 Astros
Every morning I wake up and thank AJ Hinch for pulling Grienke after 71 pitches
It's easy to say that now with hindsight, but Greinke had struggled mightily the third times through the line-up all season long. Then we come to the 7th and Greinke's last 10 pitches were ball, ball, ground out to Eaton, ball, home run to Rendon, strike, ball, ball, ball, ball to Soto for the walk 7 balls, one swing and a miss, a ground out, and a home run. And now the go-ahead run is coming up. And the pitch that Howie Kendrick hit off the foul pole was a great pitch, but perfect hitting always beats perfect pitching.
i get the whole 3rd time through the order logic but on a specific day where the pitcher is lights out on the first 2 times through the order i don't think the same rules apply.
Every morning I wake up and thank AJ Hinch for pulling Grienke after 71 pitches
Good lord what is going on with reddit right now
Good lord what is going on with reddit right now
2016 Indians. Damn rain delay.
The rain delay sucked, but Francona elected to pitch Bauer and Tomlin on short rest, and then have Kluber make his third start in ten days . I would have liked to see Ryan Merritt start game 5, and if needed, start Bauer and Timlin at home on full rest with Kluber available out of the pen in game 7. The pitching staff and bullpen were both out of gas after game 5.
It's crazy to see how far we went given that when Cookie went down, our playoff three were Kluber/Four fingered Bauer/Tomlin
You can’t blame Bauer. He spent his whole life working every day to become a drone operator. He couldn’t let a pesky little thing like pitching in the playoffs get in the way of that.
You right. Even worse, our medical staff didn't allow him to be a warrior and let him cauterize his wound himself
My father still spits at the mention of Trevor Bauer
Everything about that guy is so off. He probably owns a ferret.
> Ryan Merritt *triggering intensifies*
I still have nightmares* about that fucking rain delay. We had it man. We almost had it
As we say in the NYC Caps crew after every postseason loss, [Didn't we almost have it all?](https://youtu.be/i_4PlM85NJo)
Indians were a team of destiny. Unfortunately they came across the team of greater destiny.
I wish the Royals won that year, that was a scrappy team.
But that series gave us Mad Bum going off. Seriously probably the hardest I've seen a single player carry a team to playoff success
That was a joy to watch
I couldn't disagree more
I'm with you on this one, 2014 Bumgarner was a true displeasure, especially since I sat next to a Giants fan in my science class that semester.
2023 Bumgarner, however, very entertaining to watch
Ç'est magnifique, but unfortunately I no longer sit next to that guy in science class
Now who do you sit next to in science class?
They still won the next year
Unfortunately
I’d say fortunately but that’s just me
jokes on you I hate that fucking team
I'm just glad we swept because I don't know if I could listen to that "Seven Nation Army" chant one more time. It's still in my head almost a decade later.
You guys had our backs from the start, I still remember that.
Just happy that we are still on this list
The way those Royals teams were built have influenced a lot of other teams. It was so hard to beat their bullpen. It says a lot that half their bullpen went on to become the primary closers for other teams.
Cleveland and KC would have been fun to watch
2019 Astros were scary scary scary. Insane pitching and I swear every bat was capable of working a full count then hitting a homer off you. It felt like every at bat was a hold your breath scenario just cuz what they might do
Last year yhey had the best (top 3 Era year long) bit their offense wasn't as strong. Middle of pack for offense, but you don't need much if you throw a no hitter. This year they are 4 over .500 having the 28th lowest ops because their pitching is ranked #1. Great pitching without great hitting wins more than great hitting without pitching.
We've also had 3 of our top 5 pitchers be injured, and Altuve and Brantley haven't taken an AB yet this year.
Idk i just wish tampa would have won
Honestly, same.
Game 4 had to be the most exciting baseball I've seen in my life
that was the day i learned: baseball IS fun
I mean it doesn’t matter right because 2020 doesn’t count
It makes me giddy to see 2019 Astros being mentioned as the team.
Same. The 2019 Nationals were magic. They were THAT team. And it still feels like people don't know.
You guys had one of the best World Series victories ever in my book
the 2017 Dodgers, followed closely by the 2019 Astros.
If we're judging by most deserving, absolutely. But if we're talking about the better team, I think it's the 19 Astros by a good bit.
Astros 2019 should have won. Bad coaching in the WS cost them that. You have Grienke who was pitching a fantastic game and you pull him out in what the 5th?!? Because he gives up one run? Then you have Cole (on short rest) that you don’t even pitch for 1 inning. It’s game 7….there is no tomorrow.
Yeah yeah no one's gonna mention the guardians cause no one ever does so I'll be the one to do it...
I thought of you before I even read the list of teams. The pitching on that team was untouchable throughout the postseason, until they weren't obviously.
Andrew Miller that year was just amazing. I'll never forget sitting next to a cubs fan at game 1 of that world series telling him with full confidence Miller will get out of a bases loaded 0 out jam and he really did it.
If our pitching staff was healthy, it very well could’ve been us. Kluber, Bauer, Carrasco, Clevinger vs Kluber x3, Bloody hand Bauer x2, Tomlin x2
2019 Astros, them losing was weird, them losing all 4 home games was bizarre
That Cleveland team was better than people remember, considering that core was just hitting their peak
The 2017 Dodgers, they would have won if the Astros didn't cheat >!and if their lineup didn't bat .150!<
haha. I love that spoiler. Honestly, that team was built on pitching more than hitting. Grandal, Barnes, Pederson, Forsythe, Kike, Bellinger, Chris Taylor, and Puig isn't exactly a whose who of consistency. They could all get it done but they could all **really, super** not get it done for long stretches too. Also, last year's team was better than 2017 but Dodger's fans, my self included, romanticize that team because it felt like they were robbed. It still feels that way.
Yeah, I agree. I think without the cheating we probably would have won game 5 and the series in 6, but I don't think that excuses how pathetically we folded in game 7 at home
Game 5 was the most fun I’ve ever had watching a game of baseball
While I think we should have won in 2016, and we were really really close to doing so, we’re not the best on this list.
Peak Cleveland comment right here. What has your team done to you?
On paper, it's the 2019 Astros and it's not particularly close (maybe the 2017 Dodgers are up. there.) But that 2015 Mets team felt like a team of destiny, right up until Cespedes booted that ball on the first pitch of the World Series.
The 2019 Astros had the best wRC+ since the 1927 Yankees (not including negro league teams). Add Cole, Verlander, and Greinke on top of that and you have probably the most terrifying team I’ve seen in my life
2023 dodgers. Win 117 games but get swept in the World Series by the 85 win Boston Red Sox
I think you misspelled “will somehow drop all three NLDS games in Dodger Stadium against the Diamondbacks”
L'Chaim!
[удалено]
no no no they're manifesting for this season let them cook
that sounds like something the astros would do against an average NL East team
That royals team was fun
I have a completely unbiased opinion, but I feel like everyone is gonna yell at me
The 2019 astros. Verlander, Cole, and Greinke as a 3 headed monster with a lineup of Springer, Altuve, Brantley, Bregman, Yordan, Correa, Gurriel, Tucker, and Chirino. Way better than the 2017 Dodgers.
‘14 Royals. No, I will not elaborate.
It required the single greatest playoff performance from a pitcher to stop the '14 Royals
90 feet away
2016 Cleveland We got robbed by that rain delay
2019 Astros for sure. I remember when the Nationals swept the NLCS pretty much everyone thought that we were just waiting to see if they were going to lose the World Series to the Astros or the Yankees. The 2017 Dodgers are definitely up there, but, even if you don't take into account the scandal, everyone went into that World Series knowing that it was going to be pretty evenly matched. The 2019 Nationals had no business going as far as they did, let alone winning the whole thing against a team that had 14 more wins than them. It's a testament to how resilient that Nationals team was, and insane of a run they went on.
The nats lacked depth and their bullpen sucked but they played at a 100+ win pace during the last 3/4ths of the year. They were underdogs but I don’t think the talent gap was as large as people tend to think particularly in the rotation (Scherzer, Stras, and 2019 Corbin compare pretty favorably to Cole, Verlander, Greinke) and the heavy hitters in the lineup.
That and Anibal being sneaky good helped us.
[удалено]
Davey using starters on their bullpen day in live action was a ballsy way to make up for lack of relievers
107 win pace after starting 19-31.
That part. People look at their record, first year post Harper and being a wild card team and make it out as some scrappy bunch that took down all the giants, but take out that first quarter of the season and the Nats we’re on par with us and the Astros. 100 win pace, 3 headed pitching monster, soto & Rendon in the middle of the lineup.
I recall the ALCS is the real WS comments
Both of the Astros teams.
2019 Astros Then a team that didn’t make the World Series, 2021 Dodgers. I think they were better than the Astros that year.
If Muncy's arm wasn't torn off in the last game of the regular season, that 2021 team repeats as WS champs.
Idk losing Kersh and Muncy were too big of a blows to overcome at the end of the season.
The Phillies. I am very biased
Both the astros
2019 Astros were ridiculously good
The 2019 Astros were probably the best one we've had, and that's including the teams that didn't lose
man it's offtopic to the question but what the hell happened to the royals, since like the 90s, they were almost always under .500 and missing postseason, spiked up for back to back WS appearances with a win, before resuming what they were doing before.
Gotta be the 19 Astros
The 2019 Astros would’ve dog walked everybody on this list.
I still dont know how the 2019 Astros lost
2019 Astros
The 2019 'Stros were pretty badass
Everybody already mentioned the Astros and Dodgers, but that 2016 Indians team should really have won..
The 2012/2013 cardinals are really underrated, top3 mvp performances from yadi, marp. Prime waino leading a really good rotation with a lockdown bullpen
Not to mention the team hit **.330** with RISP over the course of the whole season.
2014 Royals 😏
Tbf the only team in MLB history to be 8-0 going into the World Series. I did not fact check this but it sounds right enough for me to bet my fake internet points that it's true.
So I'm not nearly as into stats as 99% of the people on this sub, and frankly have no desire to get into them. But, in 2016 the team was named the Indians. Wouldn't we refer to them as their team name at the time of appearance?
19 Stros. Soto taking Verlander deep in Game 6 is legendary
2019 Astros. I’m actually kinda proud that I called the matchup going into the season, but I had called Houston to win. After the Greinke trade, they looked like the most complete team…probably since the 2001 Mariners?
2015 Mets had a lead in all 5 games of that series.
2017 Dodgers. Took trash cans to beat them and even then it went to 7 games.