Revisionist Baseball

Season Summary

Since Major League Baseball went to division play, the odds of seeing the best team from each league in the World Series has decreased considerably.  And the three division setup with wild card teams has made this even worse, by requiring each team to make it through two postseason series to get to the World Series.  (See an interesting article on the Diamond Mind website for more on this.  It shows how the 1998 Yankees, despite a 114-win season that was 22 games better than the next best team, had a less than 60 % chance of making it to the World Series.) What might the World Series have looked like if division play had never been adopted?  That's what this section is all about.

Here are the pennant winners and World Series results for each year of Division Play.  For each year we show the team in each league with the best season record, the result of the actual World Series, and our revised result.  If the two teams with the best record were actually in the World Series that year, we accept the actual result.  Otherwise, we play a simulated World Series using Diamond Mind Baseball to get the revised result.

For each season, click on the Year to get the Final Standings, a description of the pennant races that might have been, and more details on the simulated World Series.

Year Best NL Team Record Best AL Team Record Actual Result Revisionist Result
2008 Chicago Los Angeles Philadelphia 4 - Tampa Bay 1 TBD
2007 Arizona Boston Boston 4 - Colorado 0 TBD
2006 New York New York St. Louis 4 - Detroit 1 TBD
2005 St. Louis Chicago Chicago 4 - Houston 0 TBD
2004 St. Louis New York Boston 4 - St. Louis 0 TBD
2003 Atlanta*** New York Florida 4 - New York (A) 2 New York (A) 4 - Atlanta 2
2002 Atlanta New York** Anaheim 4 - San Francisco 3 Atlanta 4 - New York (A) 0
2001 Houston* Seattle Arizona 4 - New York (A) 3 Seattle 4 - Houston 0
2000 San Francisco Chicago New York (A) 4 - New York (N) 1 San Francisco 4 - Chicago (A) 3
1999 Atlanta New York New York (A) 4 - Atlanta 0 New York (A) 4 - Atlanta 0
1998 Atlanta New York New York (A) 4 - San Diego 0 New York (A) 4 - Atlanta 1
1997 Atlanta Baltimore Florida 4 - Cleveland 2 Atlanta 4 - Baltimore 0
1996 Atlanta Cleveland New York (A) 4 - Atlanta 2 Atlanta 4 - Cleveland 1
1995 Atlanta Cleveland Atlanta 4 - Cleveland 2 Atlanta 4 - Cleveland 2
1994 Montreal New York Greed 4 - Fans 0 Montreal 4 - New York (A) 1
1993 Atlanta Toronto Toronto 4 - Philadelphia 2 Atlanta 4 - Toronto 1
1992 Atlanta Toronto Toronto 4 - Atlanta 2 Toronto 4 - Atlanta 2
1991 Pittsburgh Minnesota Minnesota 4 - Atlanta 3 Pittsburgh 4 - Minnesota 1
1990 Pittsburgh Oakland Cincinnati 4 - Oakland 0 Oakland 4 - Pittsburgh 2
1989 Chicago Oakland Oakland 4 - San Francisco 0 Chicago (N) 4 - Oakland 1
1988 New York Oakland Los Angeles 4 - Oakland 1 New York (N) 4 - Oakland 0
1987 St. Louis Detroit Minnesota 4 - St. Louis 3 Detroit 4 - St. Louis 2
1986 New York Boston New York (N) 4 - Boston 3 New York (N) 4 - Boston 3
1985 St. Louis Toronto Kansas City 4 - St. Louis 3 St. Louis 4 - Toronto 1
1984 Chicago Detroit Detroit 4 - San Diego 1 Chicago (N) 4 - Detroit 3
1983 Los Angeles Chicago Baltimore 4 - Philadelphia 1 Los Angeles 4 - Chicago (A) 2
1982 St. Louis Milwaukee St. Louis 4 - Milwaukee 3 St. Louis 4 - Milwaukee 3
1981 Cincinnati Oakland Los Angeles 4 - New York (A) 2 Oakland 4 - Cincinnati 3
1980 Houston New York Philadelphia 4 - Kansas City 2 Houston 4 - New York (A) 2
1979 Pittsburgh Baltimore Pittsburgh 4 - Baltimore 3 Pittsburgh 4 - Baltimore 3
1978 Los Angeles New York New York (A) 4 - Los Angeles 2 New York (A) 4 - Los Angeles 2
1977 Philadelphia Kansas City New York (A) 4 - Los Angeles 2 Kansas City 4 - Philadelphia 1
1976 Cincinnati New York Cincinnati 4 - New York (A) 0 Cincinnati 4 - New York (A) 0
1975 Cincinnati Oakland Cincinnati 4 - Boston 3 Cincinnati 4 - Oakland 1
1974 Los Angeles Baltimore Oakland 4 - Los Angeles 1 Baltimore 4 - Los Angeles 3
1973 Cincinnati Baltimore Oakland 4 - New York (N) 3 Baltimore 4 - Cincinnati 2
1972 Pittsburgh Oakland Oakland 4 - Cincinnati 3 Pittsburgh 4 - Oakland 1
1971 Pittsburgh Baltimore Pittsburgh 4 - Baltimore 3 Pittsburgh 4 - Baltimore 3
1970 Cincinnati Baltimore Baltimore 4 - Cincinnati 1 Baltimore 4 - Cincinnati 1
1969 New York Baltimore New York (N) 4 - Baltimore 1 New York (N) 4 - Baltimore 1

* Houston defeated St. Louis, 1-0, in the Revisionist NL playoff game.
**A rained out game vs Tampa Bay was simulated since New York's margin over Oakland was only a half game.  NY won the makeup game, 6-5.
*** A rained out game between New York (N) and San Francisco was simulated to determine if the Giants and Braves needed to do a playoff game.  The Giants lost, so the playoff game was not necessary.

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Copyright © 2000-2005 William Coyle