6-4-2 — an Angels/Dodgers double play blog: Selig's Tribute To Pythagoras: Wild Cards That Weren't

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Thursday, October 28, 2004

Selig's Tribute To Pythagoras: Wild Cards That Weren't

Somewhere, and I wish I could recall where I read it, the interesting thing about this postseason is that the two teams with the best Pythagorean records met in the World Series this year. That got me to thinking: without the Wild Card, the Sox wouldn't have been in the postseason at all this year. This wouldn't have mattered back before division play began in 1969, but it clearly would have in the era between 1969 and 1994, when divisions existed but the Wild Card did not. Question before the house: which teams had a better Pythagorean record during that time than the winner of their respective divisions?

Pyth. Winner			Actual			Pythagorean			Actual
Year	Team	Div.	Wins	Losses	Games Behind	Wins	Losses	Actual Winner	Wins	Losses
1969	CHN	NLE	92	70	8.0	93	69	NYN	100	62
1969	LAN	NLW	85	77	8.0	91	71	ATL	93	69
1970	CHN	NLE	84	78	5.0	94	68	PIT	89	73
1971	LAN	NLW	89	73	1.0	90	72	SFN	90	72
1972	BAL	ALE	80	74	5.0	90	64	DET	86	70
1973	LAN	NLW	95	66	3.5	94	67	CIN	99	63
1974	NYA	ALE	89	73	2.0	86	76	BAL	91	71
1975	BAL	ALE	90	69	4.5	95	64	BOS	95	65
1979	MON	NLE	95	65	2.0	94	66	PIT	98	64
1980	BAL	ALE	100	62	3.0	98	64	NYA	103	59
1980	LAN	NLW	92	71	1.0	90	73	HOU	93	70
1981	LAN	NLW	63	47	4.0	67	43	CIN	66	42
1981	NYA	ALE	59	48	2.0	63	44	MIL	62	47
1981	TEX	ALW	57	48	5.0	60	45	OAK	64	45
1982	LAN	NLW	88	74	1.0	90	72	ATL	89	73
1982	MON	NLE	86	76	3.0	90	72	PHI	89	73
1983	ATL	NLW	88	74	3.0	92	70	LAN	91	71
1984	CAL	ALW	81	81	3.0	81	81	KCA	84	78
1984	HOU	NLW	80	82	12.0	88	74	SDN	92	70
1984	MIN	ALW	81	81	3.0	81	81	KCA	84	78
1987	KCA	ALW	83	79	2.0	84	78	MIN	85	77
1987	TOR	ALE	96	66	2.0	100	62	DET	98	64
1989	NYN	NLE	87	75	6.0	91	71	CHN	93	69
1990	NYN	NLE	91	71	4.0	98	64	PIT	95	67
1990	TOR	ALE	86	76	2.0	92	70	BOS	88	74
1991	LAN	NLW	93	69	1.0	93	69	ATL	94	68
1992	MIL	ALE	92	70	4.0	96	66	TOR	96	66
1992	MIN	ALW	90	72	6.0	91	71	OAK	96	66