Winning 100 games in a season isn’t rare, but multiple teams winning 100 is. There have been just 23 seasons with at least two 100-win clubs, and just five of those had three such teams. The 2017 season has a chance at being a member of both of those lists, thanks to wins by the Indians and Astros Wednesday night.
MLB might have 3 100-win teams for the first time since 2003
Thursday’s Say Hey, Baseball looks at 2017 nearing a historical rarity, the contrasts of the AL MVP race, and the Twins clinching a wild card.
Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images
The Dodgers already have 102 wins. Cleveland has 99 after toppling the Twins Wednesday. The Astros went from borderline for 100 victories to right on the cusp by sweeping the Rangers, jumping from 95 wins with seven games to go to 98 wins with four left. Chances are good that we’ll get out first season with three 100-win teams since 2003 before this weekend is up.
Cleveland takes on the Twins in a noon ET game Thursday, which could very well be win number 100 for them. The Astros begin a four-game series with the Red Sox to close out their season Thursday evening, which is a little weird since Boston is likely to be Houston’s first-round opponent unless the White Sox suddenly decide they’re capable of beating the Indians this weekend. Sure, it’s possible, but Cleveland is 11-5 against Chicago this season, and three of those losses came in April before the Indians turned into the AL’s juggernaut.
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There have been three instances of three 100-win teams in the wild card era. In 1998, it was the Yankees (114 wins), Braves (106), and Astros (102). In 2002, we got the Yankees (103) and Braves (101) again, and the A’s (103) as well. In 2003, well, more Yankees (101) and Braves (101), and the Giants (100 on the nose) as well.
It’s probably worth pointing out that only one of those seasons featured a 100-game winner also winning the World Series, when the Yankees pulled it off in ‘98. The Angels won the AL wild card and the World Series in 2002, while the wild card-winning Marlins toppled the Yankees in the 2003 Fall Classic.
That’s not to say none of the Dodgers, Indians, or Astros is likely to win the World Series. It’s more a reminder that this is more a nifty regular season thing than anything, because the postseason is, well, post-season, and everyone in there has a real shot. Still, we’re talking regular season feats here, and a trio of 100-win teams is one way for 2017 to leave its mark.
- Aaron Judge is tall! Jose Altuve is not! That’s just scratching the surface of the contrasts between the two, though, and as they’re both competing for the AL MVP, Grant Brisbee dove right in.
- The Angels have been mathematically eliminated from reaching the postseason, which means that, despite a loss on Wednesday, the Twins have clinched the second AL wild card.
- The Twins not only made it to the postseason for the first time since 2010, but they also set a record for the most losses in a previous season by a postseason team: Minnesota led the league in losses with 103 in 2016.
- The Twins and the second wild card are good for baseball, writes Twinkie Town.
- The Cubs won the NL Central, and they’ll take on the Nationals in the National League Division Series.
- Here’s where we’re at with the 2017 postseason picture.
- The Yankees are now staging fake press conferences in the dugout after homers.
- Baseball is incredibly nice in New York right now.
- Odubel Herrera robbed Jayson Werth of a dinger with his second such catch in two weeks.
- Andrew Romine is going to play all nine positions during the Tigers’ final game of the season, which will come against a team that’s already clinched.
- Carlos Ruiz and Kyle Seager have a pre-game ritual that involves Spanish, yelling, and animal names.
- The city of Chicago really needs to quit with this ban of Friday night games, because it’s just making life harder for the Cubs.
- Only one-third of Tampa residents believe keeping the Rays are important, so maybe the region can continue to avoid using tax dollars to pay for a stadium.
- The Brewers are nearly out of it after losing to the Reds, and they might have lost Eric Thames to a foul ball, too.
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