Now that the 2020 baseball season (such as it was) is over, I can go back to looking at how the various Major League franchises rank in terms of all-time win total. And how things look if you group teams by location or by state (or state-like political unit) or nickname. I should share the underlying file, but Dropbox has been weird. If you want it, contact me and we'll figure out how I can get it to you.
In all tables, I am settling ties on the basis of games over .500.
By Franchise
Starting with total wins by franchise, no franchise passed any other in wins this year, so the rankings stay the same. The following list shows the all franchises, ranked by wins. Current franchises are identified by their current nicknames. Defunct franchises are identified by their location(s), league(s) and years in existence. The current franchises (which just happen to be the top 30 in wins) are also shaded.
By Location
Congratulations are in order to San Diego! The Padres won 37 games, propelling San Diego into 21st place, ahead of Texas. The Rangers only won 22 games. The following table shows all 54 locations that have had major league teams. As always, I note that "location" is as indicated in the team name. Thus, the Brooklyn Dodgers are included as Brooklyn rather than as a New York. The 27 locations that currently have teams are shaded.
By State (or State-Like Political Entity)
No state passed any other in wins this year, so the rankings stay the same. The following table shows all 28 states that have had major league teams. The 19 that still do are shaded. I note that Quebec is the only "state" without a current franchise that has more wins than any states (Colorado and Arizona) that do.
By Nickname
Congratulations are in order to the names "Padres" and "Rays"! The Padres won 37 games, propelling their name into 23rd place, ahead of "Rangers." The Rangers only won 22 games. The Rays won 40 games, and their name moved up two spots, from 37th to 35th. They passed "Angels of Anaheim" and "Red Stockings" which are no longer in use. The following table shows all 119 names that have been used by major league teams,* and the 30 names still in use are shaded. I note that there are five names that are no longer in use but have more wins than "Rays,", which has the fewest wins among the 30 current names.
________________________
*I acknowledge that there can be some dispute over what was a team's official name at any given point -- especially in the 19th century and the early part of the 20th century. I am using baseballreference.com as my authority.
No comments:
Post a Comment