Monday, February 8, 2021

Cities Holding Two Titles at Once, 1920-2021

"City of Champions"? Give me a break. The Rays lost
the 2020 World Series, making them 0-2 in that competition;
the Rowdies won the NASL title in 2012, but lost the 2020 Final,
and the current NASL isn't even the old one, much less MLS;
and the University of South Florida football team has 1 Division title,
in a secondary league, in 2016, and that's it.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have won Super Bowl LV. Tom Brady has thus cheated his way to a 7th NFL Championship, something no other player has.

Fuzzy Thurston, Forrest Gregg and Herb Adderley had 6. Each won 5 with the Green Bay Packers: 1961, 1962, 1965, 1966 and 1967. Thurston also won with the 1958 Baltimore Colts. Gregg and Adderley also won with the 1971 Dallas Cowboys.

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Listed here, the first date will be that of the 2nd team to win it, and the second date will be that of either team giving up their title due to another team winning it.

It's been done 34 times, including currently by 2 different metropolitan areas:

1. Cleveland, December 12, 1920 to October 13, 1921: The Cleveland Indians won the 1920 World Series, and the Akron Pros won the 1st Championship of the American Professional Football
Association, which became the NFL in 1922.

2. New York, December 11, 1927 to November 29, 1928: The New York Yankees won the 1927 and 1928 World Series, the New York Giants won the 1927 NFL Championship, and the New York Rangers won the 1928 Stanley Cup. Which means the Yankees and Rangers were champions at the same time from April 14, 1928 to March 29, 1929. Therefore:

3. New York, April 14, 1928 to October 9, 1928: Yankees and Rangers.

4. New England, March 29, 1929 to December 8, 1929: The Rhode Island-based Providence Steam Roller (for some reason, it was never the plural "Rollers") won the 1928 NFL Championship, and the Boston Bruins won the 1929 Stanley Cup. As many times as the Bruins and the Celtics have reached their sport's finals, they have never both won in the same year, although they have won in back-to-back years (Celtics in '69, Bruins in '70).

5. New York, April 13, 1933 to October 7, 1933: The Yankees won the 1932 World Series, and the Rangers won the 1933 Stanley Cup. Which also means...

6. New York, October 7, 1933 to April 10, 1934: The Rangers won the 1933 Stanley Cup, and the baseball version of the New York Giants won the 1933 World Series. So New York held all 3 titles then available from October 7, 1933 to April 10, 1934.

7. Chicago, April 10, 1934 to December 9, 1934: The Chicago Bears won the 1933 NFL Championship, the 1st official NFL Championship Game (previous titles were awarded to teams with the best record at the end of the season), and the Chicago Blackhawks won the 1934 Stanley Cup.

8. Detroit, December 15, 1935 to October 6, 1936: The Detroit Tigers won the 1935 World Series, the Detroit Lions won the 1935 NFL Championship, and the Detroit Red Wings won the 1936 Stanley Cup. Detroit followed New York as the 2nd city to have done 3, so...

9. Detroit, April 11, 1936 to October 6, 1936: Tigers and Red Wings.

10. New York, December 11, 1938 to December 10, 1939: The Yankees won the 1938 and 1939 World Series, and the Giants won the 1938 NFL Championship.

11. New York, April 13, 1940 to October 8, 1940: The Yankees won the 1939 World Series, and the Rangers won the 1940 Stanley Cup. The Giants could not defend their NFL Championship, losing the Championship Game in 1939, or else this would have been another threesome.

12. Detroit, December 28, 1952 to April 16, 1953: The Red Wings won the 1952 Stanley Cup, and the Lions won the 1952 and 1953 NFL Championships.

13. Detroit, April 16, 1954 to December 26, 1954: The Lions won the 1952 and 1953 NFL Championships, though they lost the Championship Game in 1954; and the Red Wings won the 1954 and 1955 Stanley Cups.

14. New York, December 30, 1956 to October 10, 1957: The Yankees won the 1956 World Series, and the Giants won the 1956 NFL Championship.

15. New York, October 16, 1969 to January 11, 1970: The New York Jets won Super Bowl III in 1969, and the New York Mets won the 1969 World Series.

16. New York, May 8, 1970 to October 15, 1970: The Mets won the 1969 World Series, and the New York Knicks won the 1970 NBA Championship. This was the 1st time an NBA title was part of a dual titlehold. However, by the time the Knicks won, the Jets had already been dethroned for 4 months, so while this was 3 titles in a short span for New York, it was not 3 titles at once.

17. Baltimore, January 17, 1971 to October 17, 1971: The Baltimore Orioles won the 1970 World Series, and the Baltimore Colts won Super Bowl V in 1971.

18. San Francisco Bay Area, specifically Oakland, May 25, 1975 to October 22, 1975: The Oakland Athletics won the 1974 World Series (and 1972 and 1973), and the Golden State Warriors won the 1975 NBA Championship. The Oakland Raiders couldn't quite make it 3 at once, but they did win Super Bowl XI in 1977, within a year and a half.

19. Pittsburgh, October 17, 1979 to October 21, 1980: The Pittsburgh Steelers won Super Bowl XIII in 1979 and Super Bowl XIV in 1980, and the Pittsburgh Pirates won the 1979 World Series.

20. Los Angeles, June 8, 1982 to October 20, 1982: The Los Angeles Dodgers won the 1981 World Series, and the Los Angeles Lakers won the 1982 NBA Championship.

21. New York, with help from New Jersey, January 25, 1987 to October 25, 1987: The Mets won the 1986 World Series, and the Giants won Super Bowl XXI in 1987.

22. Los Angeles, October 20, 1988 to June 13, 1989: The Lakers won the 1987 and 1988 NBA Championships, and the Dodgers won the 1988 World Series.

23. San Francisco Bay Area, October 28, 1989 to October 20, 1990: The San Francisco 49ers won Super Bowl XXIII in 1989 and Super Bowl XXIV in 1990, and the Oakland Athletics won the 1989 World Series, against the San Francisco Giants. Therefore:

24. San Francisco Bay Area, January 28, 1990 to October 20, 1990: Niners and A's.

25. New York Tri-State Area, June 11, 2000 to June 9, 2001: The Yankees won the 1999 and 2000 World Series, and the New Jersey Devils won the 2000 Stanley Cup. Therefore:

26. New York Tri-State Area, October 26, 2000 to June 9, 2001: Yankees and Devils.

27. Los Angeles, with help from Anaheim, October 27, 2002 to June 15, 2003: The Lakers won the 2000, 2001 and 2002 NBA Championships, and the team then known as the Anaheim Angels won the 2002 World Series.

28. New England, October 27, 2004 to October 26, 2005: The New England Patriots won Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004 and Super Bowl XXXIX in 2005, and the Boston Red Sox won the 2004 World Series. We now have reason to believe that all of those titles are tainted.

29. New England, June 17, 2008 to October 29, 2008: The Red Sox won the 2007 World Series (tainted), and the Boston Celtics won the 2008 NBA Championship (without cheating... as far as we know). In spite of the Celtics' 17 Titles, this is the only time they and another New England team won in the same 12-month period.

30. Pittsburgh, June 12, 2009 to February 7, 2010: The Steelers won Super Bowl XLIII in 2009, and the Pittsburgh Penguins won the 2009 Stanley Cup.


31. San Francisco Bay Area, June 16, 2015 to November 1, 2015: The Giants won the 2014 World Series, and the Warriors won the 2015 NBA Championship.

32. Boston, October 28, 2018 to October 30, 2019: The Red Sox won the 2018 World Series, and the Patriots won Super Bowl LIII.

33. Los Angeles, October 27, 2020 to the present: The Lakers won the 2020 NBA Championship, and the Dodgers won the 2020 World Series.

34. Tampa Bay, February 7, 2021 to the present: The Tampa Bay Lightning won the 2020 Stanley Cup, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers just won Super Bowl LV.

New York has done it 12 times; Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles and San Francisco, 4 times each; Pittsburgh twice; Baltimore, Chicago, Cleveland and Tampa Bay once each.

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13 times, a metro area has held the MLB and NFL titles at the same time: New York Tri-State, 5 times: 1927-28, 1938-39, 1956-57, 1969-70 and 1987; New England, twice, 2004-05 and 2018-19; San Francisco Bay, twice, sort of: 1989-90 and 1990; Cleveland, 1920-21; Detroit, 1935-36; Baltimore, 1971; and Pittsburgh, 1979-80. 
If you count the Grey Cup, the championship of the Canadian Football League, then Toronto, with the Argonauts winning on November 24, 1991 and the Blue Jays winning on October 24, 1992, held 2 titles for a matter of 31 days in the Autumn of 1992. So that would be 14.

8 times, a metro area has held the MLB and NBA titles at the same times: Los Angeles, 4 times: 1982, 1988, 2002-03 and 2020-21; San Francisco Bay, twice: 1975 and 2015; New York Tri-State, 1970; and New England, 2008.

7 times, a metro area has held the MLB and NHL titles at the same time. Detroit did it in 1936. The other 6 times, it's been New York Tri-State: 1928 with the Yankees and Rangers, 1933 with the Yankees and Rangers, 1933-34 with the Giants and Rangers, 1940 with the Yankees and Rangers, and, sort of, twice in 2000-01 with the Yankees and Devils. The Rangers never did it with the Brooklyn Dodgers, and neither the Mets nor the Islanders have ever been a part of it.

No metro area has ever held the NFL and NBA titles at the same time. The closest calls: The Eagles let Philadelphia down in 1947, losing the NFL Championship Game within months of the Warriors winning the 1st-ever NBA Championship; and the Lakers let Los Angeles down in 1984, losing the NBA Title within months of the Raiders winning the Super Bowl.

6 times, a metro area has held the NFL and NHL titles at the same time: Detroit twice, 1952-53 and 1954; New England, 1929; Chicago, 1934; Pittsburgh, 2009-10; and Tampa Bay just did it.

If you count the Grey Cup, then Toronto has done it 8 times, sort of: March 26 to November 20, 1915; March 28 to December 2, 1922; December 5, 1942 to April 8, 1943; December 1, 1945 to April 9, 1946; April 19 to November 29, 1947, from then to April 14, 1948, and from then to November 27, 1948; and April 21 to November 24, 1951. Montreal has done it 5 times: December 5, 1931 to April 9, 1932; November 25, 1944 to April 22, 1945; May 18 to November 28, 1971; and back-to-back, November 27, 1977 to May 25, 1978, and then to November 26, 1978. Edmonton held both on back-to-back occasions, from November 29, 1987 to May 26, 1988, and then to November 27, 1988. Ottawa did it once, from April 13 to November 26, 1927. So, if you count all of those, that's 22 times.

No city has ever held the NBA and NHL titles at the same time. The closest calls: Boston won the NBA Finals but lost the Stanley Cup Finals in 1957 and 1974, Chicago did the same in 1992, and New York (entirely the New Jersey Meadowlands) reversed it by winning the Cup but losing the NBA Finals in 2003.

New York, from the Rangers' Cup in April 1928 to the Giants surrendering the NFL Championship in December; and Detroit, from the Wings' Cup in April 1936 to the Tigers' surrendering the American League Pennant in October; are the only cities to hold 3 titles at once. No city has held 3 titles since the debut of the NBA in 1946.

No city has ever held all 4 titles at once. Only 9 metro areas have won all 4 titles at all:

1. New York Tri-State: They won their 1st World Series with the 1905 New York Giants, their 1st NFL Championship with the 1927 New York Giants, their 1st Stanley Cup with the 1928 New York Rangers, and their 1st NBA Championship with the 1970 New York Knicks.

2. New England: World Series, 1903 Boston Red Sox; NFL Championship, 1928 Providence Steam Roller, or, if you don't count that, 2001-02 New England Patriots; Stanley Cup, 1929 Boston Bruins; and NBA Championship, 1957 Boston Celtics.

3. Philadelphia: World Series, 1910 Philadelphia Athletics (the Phillies won their 1st in 1980); NFL Championship, 1926 Frankford Yellow Jackets (the Eagles won their 1st in 1948); NBA Championship, 1947 Philadelphia Warriors; and Stanley Cup, 1974 Philadelphia Flyers.

4. Detroit: World Series, 1935 Tigers; NFL Championship, 1935 Lions; Stanley Cup, 1935 Red Wings; and NBA Championship, 1989 Pistons.

5. Chicago: World Series, 1906 White Sox; NFL Championship, 1921 Bears; Stanley Cup, 1934 Blackhawks; and NBA Championship, 1991 Bulls.

6. Los Angeles: NFL Championship, 1951 Los Angeles Rams; World Series, 1959 Los Angeles Dodgers; NBA Championship, 1972 Los Angeles Lakers; Stanley Cup, 2007 Anaheim Ducks, or, if you don't count that, 2012 Los Angeles Kings.

7. Washington: World Series, 1924 Washington Senators (the Nationals won their 1st in 2019); NFL Championship, 1937 Washington Redskins (currently known as the Washington Football Team); NBA Championship, 1978 Washington Bullets (currently known as the Washington Wizards); Stanley Cup, 2018 Washington Capitals.

8. St. Louis: World Series, 1926 St. Louis Cardinals; NBA Championship, 1958 St. Louis Hawks (they moved to Atlanta in 1970); NFL Championship, 1999-2000 St. Louis Rams (they moved back to Los Angeles in 2016); and Stanley Cup, 2019 St. Louis Blues.

9. Toronto: Grey Cup, 1909 University of Toronto Varsity Blues (that was the 1st Grey Cup, and the Argonauts won their 1st in 1914); Stanley Cup, 1914 Toronto Blueshirts (the Maple Leafs won their 1st in 1918); World Series, 1992 Toronto Blue Jays; and NBA Championship, 2019 Toronto Raptors.

Pittsburgh won an ABA Title (1968 Pipers), but hasn't had an NBA team since the league's first season, 1946-47. Miami and San Francisco have won all but the Stanley Cup.

In 1980-81, Philadelphia reached the Finals of all 4 sports, the only time this has ever happened, but they won just 1of them: The Flyers lost to the Islanders in May, the 76ers lost to the Lakers in June, the Phillies beat the Kansas City Royals in October, and the Eagles lost to the Raiders in January.

If you count the WNBA: Los Angeles had the Lakers and the Sparks in 2001, and again in 2002, meaning they had 3 teams, with the 2002 Angels; Detroit had the Pistons in 2004 while the Shock were defending (2003) Champions; and Washington had the Nationals and Mystics in 2019.

If you count soccer: New York Tri-State had the Cosmos and Knicks in 1972-73, the Yankees and Cosmos in 1977 and again in 1978, and the Islanders and Cosmos in 1980 and again in 1982; Chicago had the Bulls and Fire in 1998-99; Los Angeles had the Galaxy win it in 2002, meaning, for a brief time, it held all but the NHL and the NFL, which it didn't then have, so it wasn't just 4 out of 6, it was 4 out of 5; and Los Angeles had the Kings and Galaxy in 2012 and 2012-13, the Galaxy repeating, flanking the Kings' 1st Cup.

So, baseball, football, basketball, hockey and soccer: New York Tri-State (achieving it with the 1972 New York Cosmos), Philadelphia (1973 Atoms, completing the circuit in 1974), Chicago (1981 Sting, completing the circuit in 1991), Los Angeles (1967 Wolves, completing the circuit in 2007 -- or 2012), and Toronto (1976 Metros, completing the circuit in 2019). New England, Detroit and St. Louis have all but soccer: New England is 0-5 in finals, St. Louis was 0-1 in the NASL but is getting an MLS expansion team, and Detroit has never had an MLS team and never got close in the NASL.

All 5 sports, plus the WNBA? Los Angeles is the only one. New York is 0-4 in Finals, Chicago is 0-1, and Philly and Toronto have never had WNBA teams.

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