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MLB: The franchise all-time bracket, NL edition

By Bill Felber

PHOENIX, AZ - OCTOBER 3: Arizona Diamondbacks Turner Ward (10), Hanley Frias (2) and Andy Fox (6) celebrate with their teammates following their win over the San Diego Padres 03 October, 1999, in Phoenix, AZ. The Diamondbacks won 10-3 to finish the season with 100 wins. (Photo credit should read MIKE FIALA/AFP via Getty Images)
PHOENIX, AZ - OCTOBER 3: Arizona Diamondbacks Turner Ward (10), Hanley Frias (2) and Andy Fox (6) celebrate with their teammates following their win over the San Diego Padres 03 October, 1999, in Phoenix, AZ. The Diamondbacks won 10-3 to finish the season with 100 wins. (Photo credit should read MIKE FIALA/AFP via Getty Images) /
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Christy Mathewson, HOF pitcher for the New York Giants. (Photo Reproduction by Transcendental Graphics/Getty Images) /

Over the past month, this site has featured 30 bracket challenges, each designed to determine the best MLB team in the history of every current franchise.

Now it’s time to determine the best of the best…to put those 30 champions through a test of champions.

Today continues that playoff of all-time greats, pitting seven of the National League franchise winners against one another. The survivor will advance to a four-team championship bracket. The 1927  New York Yankees are the first team to qualify for that final competition.

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If you missed any of the original franchise installments or want to re-visit the process of selecting the best from your favorite franchise, don’t worry. Each team’s introductory material will include a link to their franchise qualifier.

We continue today with seven champions from the National League. As with the American League, the National League bracket is seeded based on the all-time winning percentage for each franchise. That means the National League franchise with the best career percentage (the New York-San Francisco Giants) gets a bye to the second round, where it will meet the survivor of a series between the representatives of the franchises with the eighth and ninth-best all-time records.

The eight teams competing in the top half of the National League bracket are:

  • 1905 New York Giants vs. bye
  • 1999 Arizona Diamondbacks vs. 2016 Washington Nationals
  • 1907 Chicago Cubs vs. 2007 Colorado Rockies
  • 1976 Cincinnati Reds vs. 2011 Philadelphia Phillies

The format is identical to previous bracket challenges.

Related Story. The MLB all-time bracket challenge: Part 1. light

Each matchup in the tournament is decided based on seven criteria. You can think of each as a ‘game,’ the winner of four games advancing. The seven criteria are:

  1. Game 1: Regular season winning percentage.
  2. Game 2: Post-season winning percentage
  3. Game 3: Team OPS+
  4. Game 4: Team ERA+
  5. Game 5 (if necessary): Team WAR
  6. Game 6 (if necessary: Fielding percentage above the league average for the season in question.
  7. Game 7 (if necessary): The standard for Game 7 is Hall of Famers or, in the case of contemporary teams, likely future Hall of Famers.
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