Where the Houston Astros rank among MLB’s all-time dynasties
By Bill Felber
25. Toronto Blue Jays, 1988-93
From 1988 through 1993, the Jays ran up a 544-428 regular season record, a .560 percentage. That brought four division titles, capped by the 1992 and 1993 World Series wins over Atlanta and then Philadelphia. This was also the age of rampant fan interest in Toronto. The Jays surpassed the 4 million attendance mark annually between 1991 and 1993, the only three times in their history they have done so.
24. St. Louis Cardinals, 1963-68
The Cardinals rode the arm of Bob Gibson and the legs of Lou Brock to World Series wins in 1964 (over the Yankees) and again in 1967 (over Boston). They added the 1968 pennant, losing that Series to the Detroit Tigers in seven games. The Cardinals were nothing if not dramatic, taking all three series to seven games. For the six-season period, they were 547-424, a .571 winning percentage.
23. Brooklyn Dodgers, 1954-59
The Dodgers won Brooklyn’s first World Series (after six failures) in 1955, moved to Los Angeles in 1957, and to the surprise of many repeated the feat in 1959. For the six seasons, they piled up a 526-400 (.568) record, not bad considering that in 1958 the Dodgers won just 71 games and finished seventh.
22. New York Yankees, 1961-66
This capstone of the lengthy Yankee dynasty blew away both the American League and the Cincinnati Reds (in five games) in 1962, then repeated against the San Francisco Giants a year later in a dramatic series featuring Ralph Terry’s 1-0 Game 7 shutout. Terry only clinched the victory when Willie McCovey drove a scorching liner right to second baseman Bobby Richardson with the tying and winning runs in scoring position in the bottom of the ninth. For those six seasons, the Yanks had a .592 winning percentage (562-408).
21. St. Louis Cardinals, 1930-35
The Cardinals won three National League pennants in the early 1930s, losing the World Series to the Philadelphia Athletics in 1930 and then upsetting them one year later. In 1934, 30-game winner Dizzy Dean was the ace as St. Louis defeated AL champion Detroit in seven games. The Cards had a .581 (538-388) winning percentage for the six-season period.