Best Teams Ever bracket: MLB edition, Final Four
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 and the second round of voting here. Final Four polling will close at noon ET on Saturday.
[Brackets: NFL | NBA | MLB | NCAAF | NCAAB | NCAAW | WNBA | Soccer | NHL | Nascar]
Truth be told, there wasn’t a bad Final Four to be had in our MLB Best Team Ever bracket. Our final eight were all titans, but the four finalists we’ve arrived at — well, voters, you’ve done well.
The 1927 New York Yankees, 1970 Baltimore Orioles, 1975 Cincinnati Reds and 1984 Detroit Tigers remain in our tourney. The lowest win total here? One hundred four, which belongs to the Tigers. That’s saying something. There are 17 Hall of Famers between them, a list that includes Sparky Anderson, who managed two of these teams, but doesn’t include Pete Rose.
Soon there will only be two left, so vote wisely.
1927 Yankees vs. 1970 Orioles
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 famed “Murderer’s Row” Yankees have easily knocked off the 1994 Expos and 1963 Dodgers with about 80 percent of the vote in each round. Makes sense. 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.
No. 4: 1970 Baltimore Orioles
Finished 108-54
Won AL East by 15 games
Went 7-1 in World Series run
These Orioles are considered one of the most dominant postseason teams ever and now they’ve taken down the 1986 Mets en route to the Final Four (59 percent to 41 percent). In 1970, the O’s scored 60 runs in eight games to beat the Twins and Reds in the ALCS and World Series. They were armed with three 20-game winners in Jim Palmer, Mike Cuellar and Dave McNally, plus first baseman Boog Powell won the AL MVP.
1975 Reds vs. 1984 Tigers
No. 3: 1975 Cincinnati Reds
Finished 108-54
Beat Red Sox in 7 games in World Series
Joe Morgan won NL MVP
The Big Red Machine bashed the ’89 A’s in Round 1 and edged the 1998 Yankees in Round 2 (55 percent to 45 percent). 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.
No. 7: 1984 Detroit Tigers
Finished 104-58
Wire-to-wire AL East leaders
Beat Padres in 5 games in World Series
This is the Sparky Anderson vs. Sparky Anderson matchup, since he was the skipper of both these teams. His Tigers were an early ’80s powerhouse with Jack Morris, Kirk Gibson, Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker. All those names, and it was actually screwballer Willie Hernández who won the AL Cy Young and MVP that year as Tigers closer. They’ve beaten two famous curse-breakers, taking down both the 2004 Red Sox and 2016 Cubs so far in this tournament.
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