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Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ is a biweekly blog published every Wednesday and Sunday.

The New York Yankees are comfortably above .500 as the second half of the Major League Baseball season begins its second week. And if the Yankees want to keep pace with the Detroit Red Wings, they need to finish the season over the .500 mark. (You’re probably thinking to yourself, “This guy is nuts; he’s mixed up his sports. When did the Red Wings start playing baseball?”)

Here’s the simple explanation:  The Red Wings finished the most recent NHL season with a 47-25 record with 10 overtime losses). That .634 points percentage was the 19th straight season that the Red Wings had a winning season (better than .500 winning percentage). That’s the longest current streak of winning seasons among teams in the four major sports (MLB, NBA, NHL and NFL).

The Yankees, however, can tie the NHL’s Red Wings’  mark of 19 straight winning seasons by finishing above the .500 mark at the end of the 2011 campaign. If they do, that would also give the Yankees an active streak of 19 straight winning seasons.

Following are the current longest streaks of winning seasons in the four major team sports.

Team, league                                           Current streak of winning seasons

Detroit Red Wings, NHL                                                           19

New York Yankees, MLB                                                           18

San Antonio Spurs, NBA                                                            14

Dallas Stars, NHL                                                                        14

Boston Red Sox, MLB                                                                 13

Vancouver Canucks, NHL                                                          11

Dallas Mavericks, NBA                                                               11

New England Patriots, NFL                                                       10

Indianapolis Colts, NFL                                                               9

Philadelphia Phillies, MLB                                                          8

Denver Nuggets, NBA                                                                   8

Minnestoa Wild, NHL                                                                   8

Note: A pair of NHL teams saw their active streak of winning seasons end after the just-completed 2010-11 season. The New Jersey Devils finished under .500 this season, ending their streak at 18 seasons (had they finished above .500, they would be tied with the Detroit Red Wings for the longest active streak). The Ottawa Senators saw their streak of 12 winnings seasons end this past year when they finished below .500.