Best Teams Ever bracket: MLB edition, championship round
Welcome to the Best Team Ever bracket series, where the greatest of all time have their most dominant seasons stacked up against each other until we ultimately crown a champion in each sport. The tournament will be decided by fan vote, so be sure to submit yours below! Check out the first round of voting here, the second round of voting here and the Final Four voting here. The championship round poll will close at noon ET on Tuesday.
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The finals of our MLB Best Team Ever bracket shouldn’t shock anyone. When you talk about the best baseball teams ever, these two are always on the shortlist. They were so good they’ve got great nicknames — it’s Murderer’s Row vs. the Big Red Machine.
The 1927 New York Yankees arrive in the finals without much of a challenge thus far and can be penciled in as the favorite. When you’ve got Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig at their best, it’s hard to give someone else an advantage. The 1975 Cincinnati Reds, however, will be a more-than-competent challenger, with Pete Rose, Johnny Bench and Joe Morgan.
The Yankees won 110 games that year and have a roster that includes seven Hall of Famers. The Reds? Still impressive with 108 wins and four Hall of Famers. It would be five, if you count Rose, who if we’re just talking about numbers is well above that bar. It’s quite a matchup. And it’s up to you to decide.
1927 Yankees vs. 1975 Reds
No. 1: 1927 New York Yankees
Finished with 110 wins, new AL record
Swept Pirates in the World Series
Babe Ruth hit 60 homers
The team: The famed “Murderer’s Row” Yankees are the easy No. 1 seed here. When Babe Ruth can hit 60 homers and lose out on the MVP to a teammate — Lou Gehrig — you know they’re great. Gehrig had 175 RBIs that year.
How they got here: The Yankees have cruised thus far. In taking out the 1970 Orioles in the Final Four, they got 79 percent of the vote. That’s as close as anyone got to beating these Yankees. They got 85 percent of the vote in Round 1 against the 1994 Montreal Expos and 79 percent against the 1963 Dodgers in Round 2. Now, the Murderer’s Row squad faces their toughest challenge.
No. 3: 1975 Cincinnati Reds
Finished 108-54
Beat Red Sox in 7 games in World Series
Joe Morgan won NL MVP
The team: The Big Red Machine has entered the chat. The Reds teams of the 1970s are regarded as some of the best, and none might be better than the 1975 incarnation. Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan (who won the MVP that year), Tony Perez, George Foster and Dave Concepción were among their core.
How they got here: The Reds arrive after knocking off the 1984 Tigers in the Final Four, with 68 percent of the vote. In Round 1, they bashed the 1989 A’s (getting 70 percent of the vote) and in Round 2, they beat another Yankees team — the 1998 bunch that won a World Series. That was their closest bout, as the Reds won with 55 percent.
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