Excessive groups: Diamondbacks and Dodgers

There’s a substantial disparity between the 2 franchises being reviewed in the present day.

The Dodgers boast one of many richest pedigrees in baseball, courting again to their Brooklyn start in 1884. Their document stays spectacular even when the main target is narrowed to the Trendy Period. The Dodgers have certified for the playoffs 26 instances since 1961, culminating in 11 Nationwide League titles and 5 World Sequence triumphs.

The Diamondbacks, by comparability, are comparatively uncelebrated neophytes. They first took the sphere in Phoenix in 1998, thereafter making solely six playoff appearances. Their solely NL and world championships got here in the identical 12 months, 2001.

That is the newest in a sequence of tales concerning the excessive years — one of the best and worst seasons — for all 30 major-league franchises. I began with the Angels and Astros on June 23 and have proceeded in pairs on subsequent Fridays. We attain the D’s in the present day.

The next rankings are based mostly on crew scores (TS), the scores given yearly to all big-league golf equipment. Scores are plotted on an equalized 100-point-scale, making it attainable to match the relative power of groups from completely different years. (Click on right here to study extra.)

Finest 12 months for the Diamondbacks: That is a simple one. Arizona gained 92 regular-season video games in 2001, a determine exceeded by 4 different variations of Diamondbacks through the years, particularly by the 1999 squad’s 100 victories. However 2001 introduced Phoenix its solely world title, and that makes a considerable distinction on the TS scale. Arizona’s nice stars had been pitchers Curt Schilling (22 wins throughout the season, 4 extra within the playoffs) and Randy Johnson (21 and 5). Left fielder Luis Gonzalez powered the crew with a titanic complete of 57 dwelling runs.

Worst 12 months for the Diamondbacks: The decline after Arizona’s championship season was swift. The Diamondbacks plummeted to final place within the Nationwide League West in three years, stumbling to a 51-111 document in 2004. Randy Johnson was nonetheless round. His 16-14 mark established him as the one beginning pitcher with a document above .500. First baseman Shea Hillenbrand led the membership with a .310 common and 80 runs batted in.

Finest 12 months for the Dodgers: The 2020 Dodgers notched solely 43 victories, which might be a horrendous complete over a 162-game schedule. However that Covid-shortened season was something however typical. The Dodgers posted one of the best profitable proportion within the majors (.717), then adopted up with a 13-5 document within the playoffs, successively ousting Milwaukee, San Diego, Atlanta, and Tampa Bay. My TS calculations classify the 2020 squad as superior to all of Los Angeles’s earlier world champs. Shortstop Corey Seager and third baseman Justin Turner each batted .307. Proper fielder Mookie Betts led the crew with 16 homers and 10 stolen bases. Pitcher Clayton Kershaw went 6-2 with a 2.16 ERA in his 10 begins.

Worst 12 months for the Dodgers: Los Angeles endured an atypical hunch within the Nineties, lacking the playoffs in eight of 10 seasons. The membership reached its nadir in 1992, dropping 99 video games. Solely the 1905 and 1908 Brooklyn variations of the Dodgers suffered extra defeats. Heart fielder Brett Butler did his greatest to reverse the membership’s misfortunes in 1992, batting .309 and stealing 41 bases. Tom Candiotti led the pitching workers with 11 wins and a 3.00 ERA.

Look right down to see the highest and backside 10 seasons for each franchises between 1961 and 2022. Yow will discover rankings for all 30 golf equipment within the print version of Baseball’s Best (and Worst) 2023 Yearbook.

Every crew is listed beneath with the 12 months in brackets, adopted by regular-season win-loss document, postseason leads to parentheses, margin between runs scored and allowed per sport, and Trendy Period percentile.

These are the postseason abbreviations: P signifies {that a} membership made the playoffs, L signifies that it gained a league championship, and W signifies that it gained the World Sequence.

The Trendy Period percentile is the share of all 1,656 golf equipment from 1961 by means of 2022 {that a} given crew outperformed, based mostly on TS comparisons.

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• 1. Diamondbacks [2001], 92-70 (WLP), plus-0.87 margin, 97.5% in period

• 2. Diamondbacks [1999], 100-62 (P), plus-1.43 margin, 91.7% in period

• 3. Diamondbacks [2002], 98-64 (P), plus-0.90 margin, 89.1% in period

• 4. Diamondbacks [2017], 93-69 (P), plus-0.94 margin, 86.5% in period

• 5. Diamondbacks [2011], 94-68 (P), plus-0.43 margin, 80.3% in period

• 6. Diamondbacks [2007], 90-72 (P), minus-0.12 margin, 62.8% in period

• 7. Diamondbacks [2000], 85-77, plus-0.23 margin, 62.5% in period

• 8. Diamondbacks [2012], 81-81, plus-0.28 margin, 61.5% in period

• 9. Diamondbacks [2008], 82-80, plus-0.09 margin, 60.7% in period

• 10. Diamondbacks [2003], 84-78, plus-0.20 margin, 59.2% in period

• 1. Diamondbacks [2004], 51-111, minus-1.75 margin, 0.7% in period

• 2. Diamondbacks [2021], 52-110, minus-1.32 margin, 2.9% in period

• 3. Diamondbacks [2014], 64-98, minus-0.78 margin, 4.5% in period

• 4. Diamondbacks [2010], 65-97, minus-0.76 margin, 12.8% in period

• 5. Diamondbacks [1998], 65-97, minus-0.91 margin, 16.4% in period

• 6. Diamondbacks [2016], 69-93, minus-0.85 margin, 19.3% in period

• 7. Diamondbacks [2020], 25-35, minus-0.43 margin, 20.1% in period

• 8. Diamondbacks [2005], 77-85, minus-0.99 margin, 21.3% in period

• 9. Diamondbacks [2009], 70-92, minus-0.38 margin, 30.9% in period

• 10. Diamondbacks [2022], 74-88, minus-0.23 margin, 36.9% in period

• 1. Dodgers [2020], 43-17 (WLP), plus-2.27 margin, 99.8% in period

• 2. Dodgers [2017], 104-58 (LP), plus-1.17 margin, 98.1% in period

• 3. Dodgers [1978], 95-67 (LP), plus-0.95 margin, 97.9% in period

• 4. Dodgers [1974], 102-60 (LP), plus-1.46 margin, 97.7% in period

• 5. Dodgers [2019], 106-56 (P), plus-1.69 margin, 96.9% in period

• 6. Dodgers [2022], 111-51 (P), plus-2.06 margin, 96.9% in period

• 7. Dodgers [2018], 92-71 (LP), plus-1.19 margin, 96.7% in period

• 8. Dodgers [1981], 63-47 (WLP), plus-0.85 margin, 96.5% in period

• 9. Dodgers [1977], 98-64 (LP), plus-1.15 margin, 96.1% in period

• 10. Dodgers [2021], 106-56 (P), plus-1.66 margin, 95.2% in period

• 1. Dodgers [1992], 63-99, minus-0.54 margin, 8.5% in period

• 2. Dodgers [2005], 71-91, minus-0.43 margin, 20.7% in period

• 3. Dodgers [1987], 73-89, minus-0.25 margin, 24.5% in period

• 4. Dodgers [1967], 73-89, minus-0.47 margin, 28.3% in period

• 5. Dodgers [1986], 73-89, minus-0.25 margin, 33.3% in period

• 6. Dodgers [1968], 76-86, minus-0.24 margin, 34.3% in period

• 7. Dodgers [1984], 79-83, minus-0.12 margin, 44.7% in period

• 8. Dodgers [1999], 77-85, plus-0.04 margin, 44.8% in period

• 9. Dodgers [2010], 80-82, minus-0.15 margin, 47.1% in period

• 10. Dodgers [1989], 77-83, plus-0.11 margin, 48.6% in period