Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Most Playoff Appearances -- MLB Teams

This is the 2nd part of a series that began yesterday with the NFL.

The Yankees have won more World Series than any other Major League Baseball team. As you might guess, they have also made the Playoffs more times than any MLB team.

For the purpose of this chart, I'm counting making it to, despite then losing, "play-in games" such as the 1978 Bucky Dent Game, a.k.a. the Boston Tie Party, as "making the Playoffs." But not end of season deciders, such as 1949 Yankees over Red Sox: That one counts for the Yankees, but not the Red Sox. Other such examples: 1950 counts for the Phillies, not the Dodgers; 1967 counts for the Red Sox, not the Twins; 1982 counts for the Brewers, not the Orioles, who overcame a 4-game deficit with 5 to play only to lose the finale to the Brewers; and 1987 counts for the Tigers, not the Blue Jays, who blew a 7-game lead with 4 to play, including 4 against the Tigers.

I'm also counting the strike years. In 1981, all teams that won either the first-half or second-half division titles are included, as are the Cardinals and Reds, who each had the best record in their respective division over the course of the season, but didn't win either half's division title.

In 1994, the Yankees, White Sox, Rangers, Expos, Reds and Dodgers were leading their divisions, and the Indians and Astros stood to be the Wild Cards; these are included, even if the MLB officials don't count them as such. The wankers.

1 New York Yankees 51
Braves combined 34
Dodgers combined 30
2 St. Louis Cardinals 29
Giants combined 27
A's combined 24
3 Boston Red Sox 23
4 Atlanta Braves 17
5 Los Angeles Dodgers 17
6 Pittsburgh Pirates 16
7 Cincinnati Reds 16
Senators/Twins combined 15
8 Oakland Athletics 15
9 Philadelphia Phillies 14
10 Detroit Tigers 14
11 Chicago Cubs 13
12 Minnesota Twins 12
13 Cleveland Indians 11
Browns/Orioles combined 11
14 Chicago White Sox 11
15 Baltimore Orioles 10
16 Houston Astros 10
17 San Francisco Giants 9
18 Anaheim Angels 9
19 Kansas City Royals 7
20 New York Mets 7
21 Texas Rangers 6
22 San Diego Padres 5
23 Arizona Diamondbacks 5
24 Toronto Blue Jays 5
25 Seattle Mariners 4
26 Milwaukee Brewers 3
27 Colorado Rockies 3
28 Tampa Bay Rays 3
29 Miami Marlins 2
Expos/Nationals combined 2
30 Washington Nationals 0

The Nats are the only team that has not won the Playoffs in its current form. As the Montreal Expos, they did win the split-season NL East title in 1981 and were leading the race in 1994 when the strike hit and ended the season.

Here's the proportions. The first column to the right of the team is the number of times they've made the Playoffs. The next is their number of seasons. The last is, on the average, every how many years they make the Playoffs.

As you might guess, the Yankees lead this one, too -- but it's a bit closer than you might think.

1 New York Yankees 51 109 2.14
2 Atlanta Braves 17 46 2.71
3 Oakland A's 15 44 2.93
4 Los Angeles Dodgers 17 54 3.18
5 Arizona Diamondbacks 4 14 3.50
Braves combined 34 140 4.12
6 St. Louis Cardinals 29 120 4.14
7 Minnesota Twins 12 51 4.25
Dodgers combined 30 128 4.27
A's combined 24 111 4.63
8 Tampa Bay Rays 3 14 4.67
Giants combined 27 129 4.78
9 Boston Red Sox 23 111 4.83
10 Houston Astros 10 50 5.00
11 Anaheim Angels 9 50 5.56
12 Baltimore Orioles 10 58 5.80
13 San Francisco Giants 9 54 6.00
14 Kansas City Royals 7 43 6.14
15 Colorado Rockies 3 19 6.33
16 Texas Rangers 6 40 6.67
17 Toronto Blue Jays 5 35 7.00
18 New York Mets 7 50 7.14
Senators/Twins combined 15 111 7.40
19 Pittsburgh Pirates 16 125 7.81
20 Detroit Tigers 14 111 7.93
21 Cincinnati Reds 16 130 8.13
22 San Diego Padres 5 42 8.40
23 Seattle Mariners 4 35 8.75
24 Philadelphia Phillies 14 129 9.21
25 Miami Marlins 2 19 9.50
26 Cleveland Indians 11 111 10.09
Browns/Orioles combined 11 111 10.09
27 Chicago White Sox 11 111 10.09
28 Chicago Cubs 13 135 10.38
29 Milwaukee Brewers 3 43 14.33
Expos/Nationals combined 2 42 21.00
30 Washington Nationals 0 7 Not applicable

No comments: