Summary:
What made some of these teams so great? They were packed with great players is usually a common theme. But some of these teams had some magic. They united and played together? Maybe they had the same core of players the previous year. But this year they made the adjustment to be great.
1955 Brooklyn Dodgers
They won the pennant by 13.5 games. They scored 857 runs while allowing 650 runs during the regular season.Finally beat the New York Yankees in a great World Series. They had five future Hall of Famers on the team. Comprised of Duke Snider, Pee Wee Reese, Jackie Robinson, Roy Campenella, and Sandy Koufax. They proved that wait till next year finally can happen.
1961 New York Yankees
They won 109 games. They had six players with at least 20 home runs led by Mickey Mantle (54 home runs) and Roger Maris (61 home runs), At that time the Yankees set the record for most home runs in a year. Beat the Reds in the World Series four games to one. I remember watching this team play. I never thought they would lose. This team was a batting machine. One after another. They hit and hit and hit some more.
1969 Mets
Because they finished the previous year 24 games
out of first place they were not picked very high in the beginning of the year to do well. They had most of the same players in 1969 that they had in 1968. Then somewhere somehow they seemed to create an aura of invincibility. This is one team for the ages. Once they got to the World Series you knew that they were a team of destiny and would win the trophy. This was a miracle team.
1976 Cincinnati Reds
Won all seven of their playoff games. Scored 857 runs while allowing 633. Seven pitchers with double digit wins. They won the pennant by ten games. They had three future Hall of Famers. They were Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan and Tony Perez. This was an awesome team. If they had better pitching I think this team would have been one of the top five of all time.
1984 Detroit Tigers
Won the Eastern Division by 15 games. Started the season in first place and stayed there for the entire year. Winning 35 of their first 40 games. Would they ever lose? This was the best start to any season for ant baseball team I have ever seen.
1998 New York Yankees
Won their division by 22 games. Including playoffs they won 125 games and lost only 50 games for an overall 714 winning per cent age. They scored more than 300 runs than their opponents. 965 runs to the opposition's 656 runs. Ten players with at least 10 home runs.
So there you have it. My 14 greatest teams of all time. You may agree or disagree. But one thing is for sure. All these teams were pretty good.
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