Revisionist Baseball

Welcome to the Revisionist Baseball Web site!  We take a revisionist, or alternative history look at baseball, with the help of the Diamond Mind Baseball simulation software.  What might have happened in the years since 1969 if there were no divisions -- if the team with the best record in each league always went directly to the World Series?  We show the final standings for each season from 1969 through the present, with all teams combined into one division per league.  For any season where the teams with the best record in each league did not meet in the World Series, we simulate one to see how it might have played out. Check out our summary chart showing the Revisionist pennant winners for the seasons from 1969 through 2006.

Or. alternatively, what if EVERY team made it to the playoffs?  We are doing a series of Postseason Tournaments which include all teams each year, seeded according to their won-lost record.  How many times will a sub-.500 team get lucky and make it all the way to the Championship round?  This series started with the 1961 season, and the 1970 season Tournament is now in progress.  There have been a number of surprises already.

Other ideas we're considering are complete season replays with all ballpark and year-to-year offensive and defensive differences evened out, using Diamond Mind's neutral park and neutral era.  And a series of seasons with an 8-team league, using only the very best players from each season.

While you're here, read our discussion of the history of division play and the wild card format, and why we think they are detracting from the excitement of the baseball season and postseason.

Tournament Update (1970 Round 2)
NYM vs LAD - Game 5: Maury Wills doubled and Von Joshua drove him home with the winning run in the top of the 9th for a 3-2 Dodger victory over the Mets.  The Dodgers win the series, 4 games to 1, and will move on to round 3.  Next we'll have the Phillies and Pirates.

Season Summary
Our season summary chart lists the results for all seasons since the start of division play in 1969.  You can see who should have played in the World Series and who really did play.  There are also links to individual pages for each season.

Current Standings
The 2008 season is over, and we missed most of it.  But here are the final standings anyway:

AMERICAN LEAGUE W L Pct GB   NATIONAL LEAGUE W L Pct GB
Los Angeles 100 62 .617 --   Chicago 97 64 .602 --
Tampa Bay 97 65 .599 3   Philadelphia 92 70 .568
Boston 95 67 .586 5   Milwaukee 90 72 .556
New York 89 73 .549 11   New York 89 73 .549
Chicago 89 74 .546 11½   Houston 86 75 .534 11
Minnesota 88 75 .540 12½   St. Louis 86 76 .531 11½
Toronto 86 76 .531 14   Florida 84 77 .522 13
Cleveland 81 81 .500 19   Los Angeles 84 78 .519 13½
Texas 79 83 .488 21   Arizona 82 80 .506 15½
Oakland 75 86 .466 24½   Cincinnati 74 88 .457 23½
Kansas City 75 87 .463 25   Colorado 74 88 .457 23½
Detroit 74 88 .457 26   Atlanta 72 90 .444 25½
Baltimore 68 93 .422 31½   San Francisco 72 90 .444 25½
Seattle 61 101 .377 39   Pittsburgh 67 95 .414 30½
            San Diego 63 99 .389 34½
             Washington 59 102 .366 38


This site created and maintained by Bill Coyle