Greatest Teams of All Time-#1

[Honus Wagner Rules]

Ok, let's begin. I'll give a week for each poll.

[Blackout]

1-1927 Yankees (nuff said)
2-1998 Yankees (best team I ever saw in my lifetime)
3-1906 Cubs* (Brown has legendary season, best pitching staff ever number wise)
4-1929 Athletics (imagine if they still had Ty Cobb around)
5-1936 Yankees (Gehrig's MVP; Dimaggio's rookie year)
6-1961 Yankees (career year for Maris, great Mickey year)
7-1975 Reds (stacked lineup, Joe Morgon somehow found a way to hit .300)
8-2004 Red Sox (great line up plus 2 Cy Young candidates)
9-2001 Diamondbacks (career years by Johnson, Schilling and Luis Gonzolez)
10-2001 Yankees* (this team was so good)

I'll admit I'm limited to only what teams I've been able to watch in my lifetime, but this is balancing that out and balancing out everything I've ever read about great teams in the past.

*-didn't win World Series

[Cyclone792]

I'll take a crack at this ...

1. 1939 New York Yankees
2. 1927 New York Yankees
3. 1975 Cincinnati Reds
4. 1998 New York Yankees
5. 1942 St. Louis Cardinals
6. 1976 Cincinnati Reds
7. 1909 Pittsburgh Pirates
8. 1929 Philadelphia A's
9. 1906 Chicago Cubs
10. 1910 Philadelphia A's

One thing I do not like about my list is the dominance of teams from the first half of the 20th century, but I guess you'll have that. The 1942 St. Louis Cardinals may be one of the most overlooked and underrated great teams of all-time, IMO.

[RuthMayBond]

The 1942 St. Louis Cardinals may be one of the most overlooked and underrated great teams of all-time, IMO.

There's another team near there that may be BETTER, and even MORE overlooked

[leecemark]

1) 1975 (or 76) Reds
2) 1998 Yankess
3) 1984 Tigers
4) 1927 Yankees
5) 1955 Dodgers

[RuthMayBond]

1) 1975 (or 76) Reds

Wow, these guys just continue to get overrated. Even with time period adjustments, I wonder

[leecemark]

--What makes you say they are overrated? They dominated their league and won the World Series in back to back seasons. Basically the same cast won the division 4 times in 5 years. Half their starting lineup is in the Hall of Fame and the rest were All Star caliber players. They had the best bullpen of their decade (which the best in hisotry up to that point). Admittedly their starting pitching was less than great, but they were solid.

[RuthMayBond]

--What makes you say they are overrated? They dominated their league and won the World Series in back to back seasons. Basically the same cast won the division 4 times in 5 years. Half their starting lineup is in the Hall of Fame and the rest were All Star caliber players. They had the best bullpen of their decade (which the best in hisotry up to that point). Admittedly their starting pitching was less than great, but they were solid.

The 75 Reds only led their league by 46 adjusted batting runs and had an OPS+ 5% than the 2nd best team. Good but not best ever. The pitching was so poor on the 76 Reds. And I guess it does depend upon how much we weight the postseason.

[leecemark]

--Having an OPS+ only 5% better than the next best team doesn't mean you aren't a great offensive team. That would depend on who the #2 squad was. You can have more than one great hitting team in a league you know.
--Poor is also not a good description of the 76 Reds pitching. It was (by ERA+ anyway) dead average. I actually listed the 75 club which had an ERA+ well above league anyway.
--As to the postseason, I suppose it is possible to have been the best team ever and not won it all in that season. It is a substantial burden to overcome though.

[RuthMayBond]

--Poor is also not a good description of the 76 Reds pitching. It was (by ERA+ anyway) dead average.

Sounds poor for the best team ever

<I actually listed the 75 club>

Both actually

<which had an ERA+ well above league anyway.>

A bunch of poor teams

<As to the postseason, I suppose it is possible to have been the best team ever and not won it all in that season. It is a substantial burden to overcome though.>

There go the '54 Tribe (the '06 Cubs for that matter, '12 & '13 Giants, '43 Cards ...

[KHenry14]

I'm always surprised that on lists like this the Swingin' A's of the 70's get the short shrift. 3 straight WS titles (including on one over the Reds) 5 straight divisions, yet the Reds and Yanks get all the love.

My contention is that the A's were far more of a team than the other's in the 70's. The played hard together on the field, fought each other off it, yet kept on winning despite having one of the most contentious owners in the history of baseball. Why, because when they got on the field their one focus was to win and do what ever it took to win. That's how a guy like Gene Tenace comes out of nowhere to hit 4 HR's in the WS in 1972. Or get's three straight pinch hits to win a WS game. Total team baseball on the field.

The team doesn't look great on paper, three HOFer's, no one else even close, and not even a lot of stars. Yet they dominated the game over that time period.

So how about a little respect for Reggie, Catfish, Rollie, Vida, Geno, Kenny, Joe and Cap'n Sal??

KH14

[538280]

I like the A's too, KHenry (might want to look closer at the team, they might have one more deserving HOF player, at least IMO). The only problem with this is that it's hard to pick out one year ('72 or '73 or '74) when they were the most dominant. For a period of years, I would probably pick them as the greatest team of all time. I'm not so clear whether this is meant to be just one year of if it is meant to be best "dynasty". I like to combine both, really, so this is my list:

1.1972-74 Oakland Athletics (could pick any year)
2.1975-1976 Cincinnati Reds
3.1936-1939 New York Yankees
4.1927 New York Yankees
5.1986 New York Mets
6.1998 New York Yankees
7.1906-1908 Chicago Cubs
8.1970 Baltimore Orioles
9.1953 New York Yankees
10.1984 Detroit Tigers

[RuthMayBond]

I like the A's too, KHenry (might want to look closer at the team, they might have one more deserving HOF player, at least IMO). The only problem with this is that it's hard to pick out one year ('72 or '73 or '74) when they were the most dominant. For a period of years, I would probably pick them as the greatest team of all time. I'm not so clear whether this is meant to be just one year of if it is meant to be best "dynasty". I like to combine both, really, so this is my list:

1.1972-74 Oakland Athletics (could pick any year)

I go for 74 over 72 but the '73 pitching could have been better

[Honus Wagner Rules]

1) 1975 (or 76) Reds
2) 1998 Yankess
3) 1984 Tigers
4) 1927 Yankees
5) 1955 Dodgers

Mark, Can you list 10 teams.

[Myankee4life]

1. 1927 Yankees
2. 1939 Yankees
3. 1998 Yankees
4. 1975 Reds
5. 1906 Cubs
6. 1929 A's
7. 1936 Yankees
8. 1910 A's
9. 1976 Reds
10.1972 A's