Quote:
Originally Posted by Le Grande Orange
1970 = Pittsburgh 89-73 (NL East winner) — 2nd best record in NL
1973 = NY Mets 82-79 (NL East winner) — 4th best record in NL
1974 = Pittsburgh 88-74 (NL East winner) — tied for 3rd best record in NL
1979 = California 88-74 (AL West winner) — 5th best record in AL
1982 = Atlanta 89-73 (NL West winner) — tied for 2nd best record in NL
1984 = Kansas City 84-78 (AL West winner) — 6th best record in AL
1987 = Minnesota 85-77 (AL West winner) — 5th best record in AL
1988 = Boston 89-73 (AL East winner) — 3rd best record in AL
1989 = Toronto 89-73 (AL East winner) — 4th best record in AL
1990 = Boston 88-74 (AL East winner) — 3rd best record in AL
Which of these teams were undeserving?
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Didn't the 14-team AL play more games out of division than in division? If anything, that would make teams with a weaker in-AL rank by overall record more likely to win the pennant. If the three, four, five best teams in the league are all in the same division, they get a few more games to pile on the weaker division, but only one of them goes to a 5- or 7-game ALCS where for the winner of the weaker division it's not that far short of a coin toss to win the pennant. And they only had to win *one* coin toss. The 2023, 84-78 Snakes won three coin tosses, but it looks like they finally came up tails now.
In defense of the 1973 Mets - Ya Gotta Believe!