Today’s Sports Stat: October 25, 2018
This year’s World Series features a pair of teams, the L.A. Dodgers and Boston Red Sox, who are making their second Fall Classic appearances in the last 10 years. The Dodgers lost to the Houston Astros in last year’s World Series; the Red Sox won the championship in 2013.
With that being said, would you say that baseball has been a model of parity in the World Series over the past 10 years? How about the parity of the other professional sports… the NBA, NHL and NFL?
Let’s take a look at how many different teams have played for their sport’s championship in the last 10 seasons.
In the past 10 seasons, the professional league with the “best” parity in their title game/series is a tie between the NFL and NHL. Both of those leagues have seen 14 different teams play for the title in the last 10 seasons. Major League Baseball follows with 13 different teams playing in the World Series in the last 10 years. Not surprisingly, the league with the “least” parity is the NBA; in the last 10 seasons, only nine teams have played for the title in the NBA.
Only four franchises have played in four or more title games/series in the past 10 years: New England Patriots (NFL), Cleveland Cavaliers (NBA), Golden State Warriors (NBA) and the Miami Heat (NBA). All played in four title series games/series in the last 10 years.
If we look at how many teams have played in more than one championship title game/series in the last 10 years in the NBA, NHL, NFL or MLB, baseball has the most teams with six. They are followed by the NBA with five and both the NFL and NHL with four.
The teams that have played in two or more championship series/games in the last 10 seasons:
MLB (6): Boston, Kansas City, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco, St. Louis, Texas
NBA (5): Cleveland, Golden State, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami, San Antonio
NFL (4): Denver, New England, Pittsburgh, Seattle
NHL (4): Boston, Chicago, L.A. Kings, Pittsburgh
One final question: Which pro league has gone the longest without back-to-back title winners? If you answered baseball, you win the prize. The last back-to-back World Series champs are the New York Yankees in 1999 and 2000. The last back-to-back Super Bowl champs are the New England Patriots from 2004 and 2005. The NHL had back-to-back Stanley Cup winners in 2016 and 2017 with the Pittsburgh Penguins, and the NBA had back-to-back champions with the Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018.
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Today’s Sports Stat: June 9, 2018
With their third championship in four years, basketball fans are looking at the Golden State Warriors as one of the game’s dynasties. But Cleveland Cavs, with their third loss in the title series in the last four years, had a performance that puts them among the most dubious in all of sports.
The Cavs became the first pro sports team this century (of the four major sports, NFL, MLB, NHL and NBA) to lose the championship three times over the course of four years. The last pro team to lose a title three times in four years was the Buffalo Bills who lost in the Super Bowl in four straight years, 1991-94. The Cavs also became the first NBA team to lose the Finals series three times in the span of four years since the Los Angeles Lakers lost in the NBA Finals three consecutive years, 1968, 1969 and 1970.
Here are the teams in the four major pro sports leagues that lost in the championship series/game three times over the course of four years.
MLB
Detroit Tigers, 1907, 1908, 1909
New York Giants, 1911, 1912, 1913
NFL
Cleveland Browns, 1951, 1952, 1953
New York Giants, 1958, 1958, 1961, 1962, 1963
Minnesota Vikings, 1974, 1975, 1977
Denver Broncos, 1987, 1988, 1990
Buffalo Bills, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994
NBA
New York Knicks, 1951, 1952, 1953
Los Angeles Lakers, 1962, 1963, 195, 1966
Los Angeles Lakers, 1968, 1969, 1970
Cleveland Cavs, 2015, 2017, 2018
NHL
Toronto Maple Leafs, 1933, 1935, 1936
Toronto Maple Leafs, 1938, 1939, 1940
Montreal Canadians, 1951, 1952, 1954, 1955
Detroit Red Wings, 1961, 1963, 1964
St. Louis Blues, 1968, 1969, 1970
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The worst (and best) pro teams this century
Have the New England Patriots been the best NFL team this century? Which NHL team has been the best since in the beginning of the 21st century? Which NBA team has the best winning percentage since the 1999-2000 season began? Which baseball franchise has won the highest percentage of games since 2000?
The answers to the above questions in a second.
As we get ready to close the book on 2016, I started thinking about which franchises in the four pro sports (MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL) have the worst winning percentages since 2000, or in this century… 17 years’ worth of seasons.
If we go based strictly on winning percentages, the NFL’s Cleveland Browns are the “worst” pro sports franchise this century. The Browns, through games of December 21 (their recent victory over San Diego is not included in these totals) were 85-185, a .315 winning percentage.
Following are the two franchises in each of the four pro sports leagues with the lowest winning percentages since 2000 (for the NHL and NBA, I started with the 1999-2000 seasons).
NFL: Cleveland 85-185, .315; Detroit 96-174, .356.
NBA: Washington 579-827, .412; Minnesota 594-812, .422
MLB: Kansas City 1233-1521, .448; Pittsburgh 1247-1503, .453
NHL: Atlanta .428; Columbus .432.
So how about those with the best winning percentages? As you might have expected, the New England Patriots have been pro sports best team this century, based on winning percentage, compiling a 199-71 record (through games of December 21), a .737 winning percentage. The NBA’s San Antonio Spurs are the only other sports franchise over .700… they are 1002-404, .713.
Here’s a look at the two franchises in each of the four pro sports leagues with the highest winning percentages since 2000.
NFL: New England 199-71, .737; Indianapolis 175-95, .648.
NBA: San Antonio 1002-404, .713; Dallas 886-521, .630.
MLB: New York Yankees 1592-1158, .579; St. Louis 1550-1203, .563.
NHL: Detroit .586; San Jose .557
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NHL has the most parity in last 20 years
Boston Celtics NBA Championship banners (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Over the past several years, we have heard the word “parity” thrown around quite a bit, especially in the world of sports. Professional teams like the Montreal Canadians, the New York Yankees, the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakes, and at various times in the NFL, the Cowboys, Steelers, Packers and 49ers, have all enjoyed long success in their respective league.
While the fans in those towns may enjoy the dynasties that were built, other cities and executives within each of the four major sports leagues would rather see the wealth spread around a bit to other teams.
Back-to-back titles have happened in each of the four major sports in the last two decades. The Yankees won three straight titles in the late ’90’s; the Patriots won back-to-back Super Bowls in 2004 and 2005 (there has not, however, been a team that has won three straight Super Bowls); the Lakers won three consecutive NBA titles earlier this century (and the Miami Heat are hoping for a third straight title this year); and, the Detroit Red Wings won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1997 and 1998. But those days when a franchise won five or more straight championships are very much a distant past.
So which of the four major sports in the last 20 years has seen the “most” parity? Let’s start the discussion with a few numbers.
Different champions: Of the four sports, the NHL has had 13 different franchises win the Stanley Cup in the last 20 years. The NFL is close behind with 12 teams winning at least one Super Bowl in the past two decades. The World Series has been won by 11 different teams since 1993, while the NBA Championship has seen only eight franchises hoist the title trophy since 1993. Slight advantage to the NHL.
Repeat champions: Of the four sports, the NFL has had the most repeat champions (teams that won more than one title) in the last 20 years with seven (Baltimore, Dallas, Denver, Green Bay, New England, New York Giants and Pittsburgh). The other three sports have each had five repeat champs in the past 20 seasons. No advantage.
Back-to-Back titles: In the past 20 years, the NHL has had the fewest consecutive titles by a team, one. That happened in 1997 and 1998 when the Red Wings won back-to-back titles. It has happened only twice in major league baseball in the last 20 years; it has occurred three times in the last 2o Super Bowls. In the NBA, there have been seven times when a team won back-to-back titles (on two occasions, those teams won a three-peat). Advantage NHL.
So based on these three factors, the NHL, in my opinion, has had the most parity over the past 20 years.
Your thoughts?
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Game Sevens: Will the NHL finals series match the NBA and go 7 games?
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(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs took their NBA Finals series to a Game Seven with the Heat winning their second straight title. Now the question is: Can (or will) the Chicago Blackhawks and Boston Bruins take their Stanley Cup series to a seventh and deciding game?
Here’s a trivia question for you: When was the last time the NBA and NHL saw their finals series both go to a deciding seventh game in the same season? Answer to follow…
For the record, this was the 18th Game Seven in NBA Finals history and the first since 2010 when the Lakers beat the Celtics in seven games. If you compare the three professional leagues that have a seven-game finals playoff (major league baseball, the NBA and the NHL), the NHL has had the fewest Game Sevens since 1947 (when all three leagues were in existence at the same time) with 14. Major League Baseball has had the most Game Sevens with 26 since ’47.
Only once since 1947 have all three sports had a Game Seven decide their champion. That happened in 1955. The Brooklyn Dodgers defeated the New York Yankees in seven games to win the ’55 World Series; Syracuse won the NBA title in 1955 winning the championship in a seventh game victory over Ft. Wayne; and Detroit won the ’55 Stanley Cup playoffs over Montreal by winning Game Seven.
Other than 1955, there have been a handful of times when two of the three sports saw their title series go the distance with seven games. Major League Baseball and the NBA have gone seven games in the finals in four seasons (1952, 1957, 1960 and 1962… note it hasn’t happened in over 50 years); the NHL and MLB have gone seven games in the finals in six season (1964, 1965, 1971, 1987, 2001 and 2011).
Trivia answer: The last time the NBA and NHL final series both went seven games in the same year was in 1994. The Houston Rockets won the NBA title with a Game Seven win over the New York Knicks, and the New York Rangers won the NHL title in 1994 by defeating Vancouver four games to three. That’s the only other time other than 1955 that the NBA and NHL have seen their championship series decided in seven games in the same year.
One more stat: Although the NHL has had the fewest Game Seven final series since 1947, they have had the most since 2000. Since 2000 the NHL has had six finals series go the distance with seven games (it could be seven years if this year’s Chicago-Boston finals goes to a seventh game). Both the NBA and Major League Baseball have seen a seventh game finals series in three years.
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