Chicago Cubs: 11,000 wins, A franchise standard
By Bill Felber
Inching closer to the Chicago Cubs are the New York Yankees with 10,394 wins.
Obviously the Yankees are penalized by the fact that they did not play until 1903, a point by which the Cubs franchise had already exceeded 1,740 victories.
The franchise is also hurt by the fact that for the first dozen seasons of the team’s existence, the Yankees were bad. Through 1915, New York only four times finished above .500 or reached the American League’s first division.
The 27 World Series titles are even more remarkable when you consider that all 27 were accomplished between 1923 and 2009, an 86-year period that translates to one championship every 3.2 seasons. The Yankees can claim 40 of the 88 American League pennants contested between 1921 and 2009, and 55 playoff appearances between 1921 and 2019.
Still, the challenge faced by the Yankees in moving up on the franchise wins list is formidable. As of this moment, the gap between the Yankees in eighth place and the team immediately above them is 158 games.
Since 2010, the Yankees have averaged 91.2 victories per season, the next team has averaged 88.0 victories. Picking up wins at the recent rate of 3.2 per season, it would still take New York a half-century to erase that 158-game gap.