Fun with Numbers

The Devil Rays have finished in last place twice as many times in their history as the Yankees have in their history. That makes the Devil Rays, on average, 23 times more likely to finish in last than the Yankees (that sounds about right).

If the Yankees were to lose every single game they play from now on (0-162 each season), they would sink below .500 in the second week of April in the year 2021.

If the Phillies were to win exactly 100 games every season, they would get their team record over .500 in the year 2038.

The Seattle Mariners, a 1977 expansion team (the year Sully was born), have finished with a record below .500 more seasons than the Yankees (who have been around before any of our grandparents were born).

If the Blue Jays can go 104 - 58 this season (they can't), they will get 1 game over .500 for their franchise history.

For the epitome of a mediocre team, look to the '82 & '83 Padres, who managed to go 81-81 both seasons.

This will be the Philadelphia Phillies 125th season. That's 110 more seasons than the Florida Marlins. The Marlins have twice as many championships.

There have been 102 World Series, factoring in how many of those 102 seasons each team played (so the original 16 teams played in all of them), and how many World Series each team played in, the AL East is the most likely division to have the World Champion come from. This is obvious, but the amount is extreme, as the non-Yankeee AL East teams have combined to win more World Series than the AL West or the NL East.

The AL East (which has won 37 championships in 344 seasons played), is 2.34 times more likely to have the winner than the NL West (12 championships in 262 seasons)
2.39 times more likely than the NL Central (22 championships in 489 seasons)
2.40 times more likely than the AL West (10 championshisp (9 by the A's) in 223 seasons)
3.67 times more likely than the AL Central (13 championships in 444 seasons)
and 4 times as likely than the NL East (8 championships in 298 seasons).

The Yankees and A's have combined for over half of the American League Pennants, leaving under half for the other 12 teams.

Before the 1991 season, the Braves franchise record was 523 games under .500. From 1991 to 2005, they went exactly 500 games over .500. They had a .606 winning percentage during those years, pulling themseleves to within 23 games of .500. They needed a .574 winning percentage last season (93-69 record) to pull their 131-year franchise record above .500 for the first time since 1923. They went 4 games under .500 last year, and would have now have to go 95-67 to get their franchise record above .500 for the first time in 84 years.