Where the Houston Astros rank among MLB’s all-time dynasties
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.
20. Oakland A’s 1970-75
Charlie Finley’s Athletics won three consecutive World Series titles between 1972 and 1974, a feat that in the intervening half-century has only been matched by the 1998-2000 Yankees. Oakland dominated the AL West during that period, winning the division annually from 1971 through 1975 and posting a cumulative 565-399 (.586) record.
19. St. Louis Cardinals, 1926-31
This era of Cardinal dominance overlaps the 1930-35 era, but it also encompasses a period of great change in the franchise. Rogers Hornsby was the star of the 1926 World Series winners, but that same winter he was replaced by Frank Frisch, who eventually also succeeded Hornsby as manager. Dean and Pepper Martin also rose to stardom during this era, succeeding Chick Hafey and Flint Rehm. Between 1926 and 1931, the Cards ran up a 547-378 record, a .592 percentage.
18. New York Yankees, 1975-80
This was the period of the Yankee Renaissance under George Steinbrenner. Championship-less for a decade, the Yanks won the AL pennant in 1976, then beat the Dodgers in 1977 and 1978 for their two championships. They claimed the AL East a fourth time in 1980, but lost the ALCS to the Kansas City Royals. For the six-season window, the Yankees were 572-394, a .592 percentage.
17. New York Giants, 1919-24
These were the legendary teams of manager John McGraw. Between 1921 and 1921, McGraw’s Giants became the first team ever to win four consecutive pennants, included among them World Series wins over the Yankees in 1921 and 1922. The Giants piled up a 548-363 record over those six seasons, a .602 winning percentage.
16. New York Yankees, 1923-28
It was Babe Ruth who stole the spotlight from McGraw, arriving in New York in 1920 and lifting the Yankees to pennants for the next three seasons. In 1923, Ruth’s Yankees beat McGraw’s Giants in the World Series, repeating against the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1927 and a third time against the Cardinals in 1928. Both were sweeps. Between 1923 and 1928, the original Murderer’s Row won 558 games against just 406 losses, a .603 winning percentage.
15. New York Yankees, 1956-61
This was a transitional portion of the Yankee dynasty. Whitey Ford and Mickey Mantle were still great, but Phil Rizzuto retired in 1956 and Yogi Berra and Hank Bauer gradually ceded playing time to Elston Howard and Roger Maris. The Yanks missed only an occasional beat, winning pennants annually save for 1959. Their World Series titles came in 1956, 1958 and 1961, and their 1957 and 1960 losses both occurred in the seventh game. The six-season record of 572-364 works out to a .611 percentage.
14. Cincinnati Reds, 1972-77
The Big Red Machine rolled up NL West titles in 1972, 1973, 1975 and 1976, beating Boston for the 1975 World Series and sweeping the Yankees in 1976. The cast barely changed; Johnny Bench at catcher, Joe Morgan at second, Tony Perez at first, George Foster in left, and Pete Rose flitting about as needed. The Reds were a combined 590-375 for the period, a .611 percentage.
13. New York Yankees, 1998-2003
The last great Yankee dynasty was led by Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera, both now Hall of Famers. The Yanks won a franchise record 114 games in 1998, defeating San Diego for the first of three straight World Series wins. The Braves would fall in 1999, the Mets in 2000. Their Game 7 walkoff defeat by Arizona in 2001 is the stuff of legend. For the six-season window, the Yankees stood 598-371, a .617 winning percentage.
12. Houston Astros, 2017-22
Now we arrive at the Astros, whose ongoing stretch works out superior to all of the best dynasties of the past half century. In fact, the most powerful dynasty we will see among the 11 teams ahead of the Astros played its last game nearly two-thirds of a century ago. Since 2017, the Astros have won 541 games against just 329 defeats, a .622 winning percentage.
11. Philadelphia Athletics, 1909-1914
Connie Mack’s first dynasty — his second is yet to come on this list — dominated the first two decades of the American League. Between 1910 and 1914, Mack won all but one pennant, defeating the National League champion Cubs in 1910 and the Giants in both 1911 and 1913. Heavily favored in 1914, they lost in four games to the lightly regarded Boston Braves in probably the greatest upset of Series history. For the six-season window, the A’s of Eddie Collins, Chief Bender, Eddie Plank and Home Run Baker ran up a 583-341 record, a .631 percentage.
We now come to the boring portion of the list. There are six Yankee teams among the top 10, and they occupy spots 4 through 10 in succession. Non-Yankee fans, check back on the final 3. For now, here goes.
10. New York Yankees, 1927-1932
These are the Yankees of Ruth and Gehrig, the group we think of when we define dominance. Between 1927 and 1932, the Yanks won three World Series (1927, 1928, 1932), each time in a sweep and each regular season surpassing 100 victories. For that six-season window, the Yankees won 586 games against just 342 losses, a .631 winning percentage.
7-9. Tie. New York Yankees 1950-55, 1951-56 and 1952-57
Between 1950 and 1957, the Yankees won seven pennants, losing only in 1954. Defying the odds, the 1950 through 1955, 1951 through 1956 and 1952 through 1957 all accumulated precisely identical six-season records. Each came in at exactly 588 wins and 334 defeats for identical .641 winning percentages. Obviously the casts were similar, although this period does encompass one important transition. In 1951, Joe DiMaggio played his final game and Mickey Mantle played his first.
6. New York Yankees, 1949-1954
The Yankees won an unprecedented five consecutive World Series between 1949 and 1953, beating the Dodgers in 1949, 1952 and 1953, and taking down the Phillies in 1950 and the Giants in 1951. DiMaggio remained a force in 1949, although an often-injured one. He only got on the field for 76 games, but batted .346. The Yanks won 590 or their 924 games during this window, a .639 percentage.
5. New York Yankees, 1938-1943
This was Joe DiMaggio’s dominant period. He won the 1938 and 1939 batting titles, and had his 56-game hitting streak in 1941, when he also won the RBI title.
The Yankees won the 1938, 1939 and 1941 World Series and, despite the loss of DiMaggio to the Navy, took another title in 1943. The 1938 and 1939 wins were both sweeps, over the Cubs and Reds respectively. They beat the Dodgers in five in 1941 and took down the defending champion Cardinals in five in 1943.
Even counting their 1942 World Series loss to the Cardinals, the Yankees were 17-6 against the best the NL had to offer for the six-season period. It should be no surprise, then, that they were 595-334, a .640 winning percentage, in those regular seasons.
4. New York Yankees, 1934-1939
Despite losing an aging Babe Ruth after the 1934 season, the Yankees rolled on. Joe DiMaggio arrived to join Lou Gehrig as forces in the middle of the lineup, lifting the Yankees to four straight World Series wins between 1936 and 1939.
How dominant were those mid-1930s Yankees? They won their four straight AL pennants by a combined margin of 59 games, only one team ever finishing within 10 games of their lead. The Gehrig-DiMaggio Yankees’ collective 592-332 record works out to a .641 winning percentage.
3. St. Louis Cardinals, 1941-1946
The arrival of Stan Musial late in the 1941 season was not enough to rally the Cardinals, who won 97 games but fell three short of matching the Dodgers.
But once the Cardinals got Musial for a full season in 1942, they couldn’t be stopped. They won the World Series that year, repeated in 1944 and took a third title in five seasons in 1946. They also won the 1943 National League pennant but lost to the Yankees in the World Series.
Their chances in 1945 took a hit when Musial was called into military service during World War II. It was a significant loss; Musial was the 1943 and 1944 batting champion.
But in the depleted World War II game, the Cardinals had enough weapons to thrive, at least on the field. The Cooper boys (catcher Walker and pitcher Mort) may have been the era’s best battery. Marty Marion was a fixture at shortstop, third baseman Whitey Kurowski was a powerhouse whose military ineligibility due to osteomyelitis only enhanced his on-field value. The same was true of the chronic back problems that kept Johnny Hopp stateside.
For the six-season period, the Cardinals rolled to a combined 606 victories against just 330 defeats. That’s a .647 winning percentage. Incredibly, in none of those six seasons did the Cardinals win fewer than 60 percent of their games.
2. Philadelphia Athletics, 1927-1932
Connie Mack’s second dynasty was even stronger than his first. Following the dismantling of his 1909-14 powerhouse, Mack built slowly but purposefully.
In 1925, he got Lefty Grove away from Baltimore of the International League to anchor his pitching staff. Grove would win 20 or more games in seven consecutive seasons, topping out at 31-4 in 1931.
Outfielder Al Simmons was on the scene by then; he would win the 1930 (.381) and 1931 (.390) batting titles. Jimmie Foxx blossomed into a slugger in 1928, batting .354 in 1929 and .335 in 1930.
George Earnshaw emerged as a rookie right-handed complement to Grove in 1928, and led the league with 24 wins in 1929. The team veteran was Jimmy Dykes, a versatile infielder; the patient leadoff man was second baseman Max Bishop. Possessed of an eye for the strike zone that won the respect of American League umpires, Bishop walked more than 100 times every season between 1926 and 1933.
How good were the Athletics? They beat the Ruth-Gehrig Yankees by 18 games in 1929, by eight games in 1930 and by 13 and one-half games in 1931. Between 1927 and 1932, the Athletics never won fewer than 90 games, topping 100 victories annually from 1929 through 1931.
Their collective six-season record of 596-324 produces a .647 winning percentage, which happens to be the highest for any block of six consecutive seasons in the history of the American League.
1. Chicago Cubs, 1905-1910
Statistically, the pinnacle dynasty of baseball history took the field more than a century ago.
Between 1905 and 1910, player-manager Frank Chance led the Cubs to four pennants, two of those (1907-08) ending in World Series wins over the Tigers.
This team, however, may be better known for its defeats. Its six-game World Series loss to the cross-town White Sox in 1906 — after winning a record 116 regular season games — still baffles historians. Then in 1910, the Cubs won 104 regular-season games only to lose the World Series to the Athletics in five games.
Chance’s Cubs were best known for their imposing pitching staff. Only in 1908 did they fail to lead the National League in staff ERA. Mordecai Brown won 145 games against just 56 defeats during those six seasons. Ed Reulbach was 109-47, Jack Pfeister was 69-36 and Orval Overall was 104-66. That, friends, is a rotation.
The offense could be ordinary for that dead ball era, although the Cubs did lead the league in batting average in 1906.
There were three dominant National League teams during this era, the Cubs, Giants and Pirates. It is a measure of the dynasty’s dominance that Chicago went 146-117 against those two rivals.
Those assets and others enabled the Cubs to pile up the best six-season record in major league history, 622 victories against just 310 defeats. That’s a breathtaking .667 winning percentage, a full 20 percentage points better than the next best the history of MLB dynasties has to offer.
Next. Ranking the 12 winningest teams in MLB history. dark
Consider that in the modern game it is the rare team that plays .667 ball for even one full season; the Cubs did it for six straight.