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 has been going on for months, and we've fallen way behind on the standings.  So here they are, as of the morning of July 13th:

AMERICAN LEAGUE W L Pct GB   NATIONAL LEAGUE W L Pct GB
Los Angeles 56 38 .596 --   Chicago 57 37 .606 --
Tampa Bay 55 38 .591 ½   St. Louis 52 43 .547
Boston 56 40 .583 1   Milwaukee 51 43 .543 6
Chicago 54 39 .581   Philadelphia 51 44 .537
Minnesota 53 41 .564 3   Florida 50 44 .532 7
Oakland 51 43 .543 5   New York 50 44 .532 7
New York 50 44 .532 6   Arizona 47 47 .500 10
Texas 49 46 .516   Cincinnati 46 49 .484 11½
Detroit 46 47 .495   Los Angeles 45 49 .479 12
Toronto 46 48 .4894 10   Pittsburgh 44 49 .473 12½
Baltimore 45 47 .4891 10   Atlanta 44 50 .468 13
Kansas City 43 52 .453 13½   Houston 43 51 .457 14
Cleveland 40 53 .430 15½   San Francisco 39 55 .415 18
Seattle 36 58 .383 20   Colorado 39 56 .411 18½
            San Diego 37 57 .394 20
             Washington 36 59 .379 21½


This site created and maintained by Bill Coyle