Call to the pen
Fansided

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) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 5
Next
(Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
(Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /

MLB: The Franchise All-Time Bracket (NL Edition)

1999 Arizona Diamondbacks vs. 2016 Washington Nationals

The 1999 Diamondbacks improved by a stunning 35 games from their debut season, running up a franchise-record 100 victories on their way to the National League West title. The arrival of Randy Johnson to lead the staff had to be one reason. His 17-9 and 2.48 ERA in 271  innings won his second Cy Young Award and the first of four straight he would take with Arizona.

Luis Gonzalez batted .336 and was one of four Arizona regulars to top 100 RBIs: He had 111, outfielder Steve Finley drove in 103, second baseman Jay Bell had 112 and third baseman Matt Williams led them all with 142. Bell, Williams, and Finley all also surpassed 30 home runs.

In the franchise bracket challenge, the 1999 D-Backs beat the 2019 and 2002 teams, both in four straight. They won the franchise championship by eliminating the 2001 World Series winners in just five games.

The 2016 Washington Nationals may have been the best of the recent Nationals clubs, but it had the misfortune to run into the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Nats came in as National League East champions by eight games but lost that division series in five, The series was decided on a Dodger seventh-inning rally after manager Dusty Baker removed Max Scherzer.

Scherzer was a 20-game winner with a 2.96 ERA, and Stephen Strasburg backed him up with a 15-4 season in 24 starts.

Bryce Harper had one of his worst seasons, hitting only .243. But he still produced 24 home runs and 86 RBIs. He was one of a half dozen Nationals with 20 or more home runs. Daniel Murphy’s 104 RBIs powered the offense.

The 2016  Nats won the franchise championship by sweeping the 2012 Nationals, taking out the 1994 Montreal Expos in six, and beating the 2017 Nationals in seven games

Game 1: The 1999 Diamondbacks put together a .617 regular season, 30 points better than the 2016 Nationals’ .586.

Game 2: In post-season play, the 2016 Nationals only achieved a .400 winning percentage. Still, that’s good enough to defeat the 1999 Diamondbacks, whose .250 percentage represented just one win in four post-season games.

Game 3: In 1999 Arizona hitters had a 101 OPS+, five points better than the 2016 Nats’ 96. The Diamondbacks led 2-1.

Game 4: Arizona rode Johnson to a 122 staff ERA+, exactly equaling Washington’s score in 2016. The tie-breaker, though, goes to Johnson’s 184, more than 30 points superior to Tanner Roark’s 151 (Scherzer’s ERA+ was 144).

Game 5: Washington accumulated a 44.3 WAR in 2016. But Arizona ran up a 50.1 total to close out the series.

Result: Arizona in five games. The Diamondbacks play the 1905 New York Giants in the second round.

Home/MLB News