Best of BP: Now Do You Believe Me About the Dodgers?

Last summer, I wrote an article titled, “The Dodgers May Be The Best Team We’ll See.” No lede burying for me! I made a case for the title. Here, for example, is a table from that article listing the best six-year winning records since the formation of the American League in 1901.

Seasons	Team	W	L	Pct.
1905-1910	Cubs	621	295	.678
1906-1911	Cubs	621	296	.677
1904-1909	Cubs	610	305	.666
1941-1946	Cardinals	606	319	.655
1903-1908	Cubs	588	312	.653
1937-1942	Yankees	599	320	.6518
1907-1912	Cubs	597	319	.6517
1936-1941	Yankees	598	320	.651
1927-1932	Athletics	596	321	.650
1934-1939	Yankees	592	321	.648
1938-1943	Yankees	595	324	.647
1942-1947	Cardinals	598	328	.646
2017-2022	Dodgers	562	309	.645
1940-1945	Cardinals	592	330	.6421
1935-1940	Yankees	586	327	.6418
1926-1931	Athletics	585	328	.6407
1949-1954	Yankees	590	331	.6406
1932-1937	Yankees	585	329	.6400
1909-1914	Athletics	582	328	.6396
1939-1944	Cardinals	589	332	.6395

I’m guessing there aren’t many of you who were alive for any of those teams but one. 

The Dodgers, I posited, have posted a record over the past several years that’s among the best in baseball history. But they’ve failed to get the recognition they deserve, largely due to their various disappointments in MLB’s postseason tournament. Having successfully advanced through the quarterfinals and semifinals this year and beating the Yankees in the finals, that complaint has been, if not put to rest, at least mitigated. 

But the data I presented last year ended in 2022. Let’s look at this anew. Here’s those top-20 six-year winning percentages through the end of this season.

Seasons	Team	W	L	Pct.
1905-1910	Cubs	621	295	.678
1906-1911	Cubs	621	296	.677
1904-1909	Cubs	610	305	.667
1942-1946	Cardinals	606	319	.655
1903-1908	Cubs	588	312	.653
1937-1942	Yankees	599	320	.652
1907-1912	Cubs	597	319	.652
1936-1941	Yankees	598	320	.651
1927-1932	Athletics	596	321	.650
1934-1939	Yankees	592	321	.6484
2019-2024	Dodgers	564	306	.6483
1938-1943	Yankees	595	324	.647
1942-1947	Cardinals	598	328	.646
2017-2022	Dodgers	562	309	.645
1940-1945	Cardinals	592	330	.6421
1935-1940	Yankees	586	327	.6418
1926-1931	Athletics	585	328	.6407
2018-2023	Dodgers	558	313	.64064
1949-1954	Yankees	590	331	.64061
1932-1937	Yankees	585	329	.640

A bunch of teams from before color TV, and then the Dodgers. The gap between clubs maintaining a .640 winning percentage ran over 60 years, from the end of the Yankees’ 1949-54 streak to the start of the Dodgers’ 2017-22 streak.

You might complain that part of the Dodgers’ streak fell in 2020. The contemporary Dodgers thus had a short season embedded in there. But the difference in games between the 2019-24 Dodgers and the leaders, the 1905-10 Cubs, is only 46 games, or 7.7 per year. That’s less than the difference between the 162-game season the Dodgers play and the 154-game season every other team on the list played. And almost all the teams on this list didn’t have to face transcontinental travel, sliders, opponents who trained all winter rather than take another job to make ends meet, or nonwhite players. The Dodgers’ records were compiled in a much more challenging environment. 

But maybe that six-year timeframe is cherry-picking. Here are the top five-season winning percentages.

Seasons	Team	W	L	Pct.
1906-1910	Cubs	529	234	.693
1905-1909	Cubs	517	245	.678
1903-1908	Cubs	506	256	.664
1928-1932	Athletics	505	258	.662
1941-1945	Cardinals	508	261	.66060
1907-1911	Cubs	506	260	.66057
1942-1946	Cardinals	509	263	.659
2019-2023	Dodgers	466	242	.6582
1927-1931	Athletics	502	261	.6579
1935-1939	Yankees	498	261	.656
1903-1907	Cubs	489	257	.655
1936-1940	Yankees	497	267	.651
1938-1942	Yankees	497	268	.650
1937-1941	Yankees	496	269	.648
1940-1944	Cardinals	497	271	.6471
2019-2024	Dodgers	458	250	.6469
1939-1943	Yankees	496	271	.6467
2018-2022	Dodgers	458	251	.646
1901-1905	Pirates	466	257	.645
1910-1914	Athletics	487	270	.643

Basically, it’s early 20th century Cubs, prewar Yankees, WWII-era Cardinals, Connie Mack’s greatest hits, and the contemporary Dodgers. (The 2016-21 Dodgers rank 34th.)

One more short timeframe: The best-ever four-year records.

Seasons	Team	W	L	Pct.
1906-1909	Cubs	425	184	.698
1905-1908	Cubs	413	196	.678
1907-1910	Cubs	414	198	.676
1928-1931	Athletics	411	198	.675
1941-1944	Cardinals	413	202	.672
1936-1939	Yankees	409	201	.6705
2019-2022	Dodgers	366	180	.6703
1904-1907	Cubs	407	201	.669
1929-1932	Athletics	407	203	.667213
1942-1945	Cardinals	411	205	.667208
2020-2023	Dodgers	360	186	.659
1903-1906	Giants	391	204	.657
1943-1946	Cardinals	403	215	.652
1939-1942	Yankees	398	215	.6493
1901-1904	Pirates	370	200	.6491
1908-1911	Cubs	399	216	.649
1937-1940	Yankees	395	216	.6465
1927-1930	Athletics	395	216	.6465
1910-1913	Giants	394	216	.6459
1938-1941	Yankees	394	217	.645

It’s worth noting here that the 2021-24 Dodgers—no pandemic year included—rank 28th. The most recent team preceding those Dodgers are the 23rd-ranked 1953-56 Yankees. The contemporary Dodgers are the best team by this measure since a time when a quarter of American households didn’t have a telephone.

How about longer periods? Here are the best seven-year streaks ever.

Seasons	Team	W	L	Pct.
1904-1910	Cubs	714	355	.668
1906-1912	Cubs	712	355	.667
1905-1911	Cubs	713	357	.666
1903-1909	Cubs	692	361	.657
1936-1942	Yankees	701	371	.654
1937-1943	Yankees	697	376	.650
1941-1947	Cardinals	695	384	.6441
1935-1941	Yankees	687	380	.6439
1933-1939	Yankees	683	380	.643
1932-1938	Yankees	684	382	.642
2017-2023	Dodgers	662	371	.6409
1907-1913	Cubs	685	384	.6408
1940-1946	Cardinals	690	388	.640
1949-1955	Yankees	686	389	.638
1950-1956	Yankees	686	389	.638
1951-1957	Yankees	686	389	.638
1934-1940	Yankees	680	387	.637
1931-1937	Yankees	679	388	.6364
1926-1932	Athletics	679	388	.6364
1948-1954	Yankees	684	391	.6363
1939-1945	Cardinals	684	391	.6363

The 2018-2024 Dodgers just miss making it. Their 656-377 record, .635, is next on the list.

Finally, here are the best eight-year records. 

Seasons	Team	W	L	Pct.
1903-1910	Cubs	796	411	.659
1904-1911	Cubs	806	417	.659
1905-1912	Cubs	804	416	.659
1906-1913	Cubs	800	420	.656
1936-1943	Yankees	799	427	.652
1932-1939	Yankees	790	427	.649
1935-1942	Yankees	790	431	.647
1902-1909	Pirates	768	429	.642
1934-1941	Yankees	781	440	.640
1902-1909	Cubs	760	430	.639
1931-1938	Yankees	778	441	.638
1950-1957	Yankees	784	445	.638
1949-1956	Yankees	783	446	.637
2017-2024	Dodgers	760	435	.636
1937-1944	Yankees	780	447	.636
1947-1954	Yankees	781	448	.635
1939-1946	Cardinals	782	449	.635
1948-1955	Yankees	780	449	.635
1933-1940	Yankees	771	446	.634
1951-1958	Yankees	778	451	.633
1903-1910	Cubs	796	411	.659

To me, this is the mic drop. Over the last eight years, the Dodgers have played 1,195 games. The team with the best-ever record over eight years, the 1903-10 Cubs, played only 12 more, so don’t give me any 60-game noise. No team to compile a better record over eight years than the contemporary Dodgers has any living survivors. This is the best team you’ve ever seen, and maybe the best one you ever will. The 2016-23 Dodgers rank 25th, the 2015-22 Dodgers 35th. The most recent team, other than the Dodgers, you remember is the 1992-99 Braves. They ranked 36th.

And now they’ve got their second piece of metal in five years to show for it. Not that they needed it. They call the 162 games the Championship Season, after all. The Dodgers are the champions of our lifetimes.