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Chicago Cubs: Is the Best Record the Best Thing?

By Keaton Moore

Sep 27, 2016; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Chicago Cubs second baseman Munenori Kawasaki (66) and left fielder Ben Zobrist (middle) and shortstop Javier Baez (9) celebrate a triple by left fielder Chris Coghlan (not pictured) against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the second inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 27, 2016; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Chicago Cubs second baseman Munenori Kawasaki (66) and left fielder Ben Zobrist (middle) and shortstop Javier Baez (9) celebrate a triple by left fielder Chris Coghlan (not pictured) against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the second inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Chicago Cubs finished the regular season with the best record in baseball, but the changing atmosphere of the postseason makes the team with the best record almost unfavorable.

Including the 2015 Saint Louis Cardinal’s 100-62, the Chicago Cubs became the 99th team in baseball history to reach 100-plus wins on Sept. 26. By finishing 103-58, they became the sixth team in franchise history to accomplish that feat and the first since 1935. However, is their phenomenal regular season record a disadvantage heading into the postseason?

According to history, it is.

The fact is that since 1962, the odds are almost against the team with the best record going into the postseason. Over the last 54 seasons, only 14 teams with the best record went on to win the Fall Classic.

After the 162-game schedule was instituted by 1962, the playoffs were not extended for another seven seasons. Prior to 1969, the teams with the top records in their perspective leagues played each other in the World Series. In those seven seasons, only three teams rode their best regular season record to a World Series championship.

“In the last 54 years, only 14 teams ended the regular season with the best record and went on to win the World Series, three of which occurred in the 21st century.”

With the addition of four new teams in 1969, baseball was warranted to expand their playoffs to two rounds. As the postseason continued to alter in 1994, adding a third round, and 2012, introducing the Wild Card game, lower ranked teams began to outshine the top regular season teams.

From 1969 until the end of the 20th century, only eight teams with the best regular season record won the World Series. Each of those teams won the World Series after winning 100-plus games, except for the 1989 Oakland A’s.

Thus far in the 21st century, only five teams with the best record reached the World Series. However, out of those five, only three went on to win the Fall Classic. In 2003, the first place Yankees lost to the 7th place Florida Marlins and the following year the 2004 Cardinals fell to the 3rd place Red Sox. The other three teams won the World Series with the best record within six years of each other.

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    • In 2007, the Red Sox finished 96-66 and went on to win their second World Series since 2004. It is interesting to note that the Cubs are the 16th team to win 100-plus games since 2000. Before 2016, only one of the 100-plus teams won the World Series, the 2009 New York Yankees. The Yankees won their 27th World Series championship after a 103-59 season. The most recently, the 2013 Red Sox finished the season 97-65 and won the Fall Classic.

    A prime example of this phenomenon came with 2001 Seattle Mariner’s historic season that came to a tragic end. Despite finishing the season 116-46, the all-time best season record, the Mariners were unable to reach the World Series. En route to their first 100-plus win season in franchise history, the Mariners only spent one day of the season out of first place. A 15-game winning streak from late May into June helped maintain the Mariners atop the AL West. Two days after breaking the previous all-time record, the Mariners won game No. 116 on Oct. 6.

    However, after Seattle bested the Cleveland Indians in the ALDS, they fell three games short of the World Series. Their postseason run came to an end when they were stunned by the New York Yankees and lost the ALCS.

    Oct 10, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; A postseason base on the field before game two of the NLDS between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
    Oct 10, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; A postseason base on the field before game two of the NLDS between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports /

    While the 2001 Mariners cast a shadow over the Cub’s postseason chances, the 1998 New York Yankees give them hope. Before Seattle’s beyond stellar season, the 1998 Yankees held the previous all-time best record.

    The Yankees entered the postseason 114-48, spending 135 days atop their division and losing no more than four consecutive games. A seven-game winning streak to end the season pushed the Yankees to 114 wins on Sept. 27, the last game of the season. The Yankees maintained their momentum and were 7-2 through the first two rounds of the playoffs. Facing the San Diego Padres, the Yankees did what they do best and won the World Series.

    Next: Chicago Cubs: What Would the Playoff Rotation Look Like?

    As the Cubs head into October with a chance to win their first championship since 1908, time will tell if they can defy the odds and win the World Series with the best regular season record.

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