Winning 95 of 154 games = winning 100 of 162. Bill James must know that.

2023 World Series teams: lowest regular season Win Total & Win% of any WS pairs. Friday, November 3, 2023

Click link to view the data. It's regular season wins 1903-2023.

It includes 1904 when there was no WS but I wanted it for comparison.

Minimum games: 140 to include 1919 and 1995. 1919 was the Black Sox scandal. In 1995 Cleveland was 100-44. It results in 117 records...

Three teams in 2023 won at least 100 games but all three lost the first series that they played:

Baltimore: 2023 AL Division Series Texas Rangers over Baltimore Orioles (3-0)

Atlanta: 2023 NL Division Series Philadelphia Phillies over Atlanta Braves (3-1)

Los Angeles: 2023 NL Division Series Arizona Diamondbacks over Los Angeles Dodgers (3-0)

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11/9/2023 on "MLB Now" TV program Bill James stated that winning 100 regular season games is more common in recent years. But the extra eight games since 1960 impacts that.

95/154=.6169

100/162=.6172

Through 1960 there were 16 teams. Now there are 30. So simply looking at the number of teams winning 100 doesn't get you anywhere. And simply looking for 100 wins is even more silly.

How about we just look for win average (percent) at least .616? And then take that as a percentage of teams each year? In 2023 it was 3 of 30: 10%. In 1923 it was 2 of 16: 12.5%; Yankees (98) and Giants (95).

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That's about the closest we can get: 95 equates to 100 wins in the 154 game seasons. Let's look at the number and percentage of teams that reach those regular season win totals.

Note: the two major leagues expanded and changed from 154 to 162 in different years:

American League (AL): 1961

National League (NL): 1962

Also, some seasons were way short of the regular number of decisions but are included for the heck of it: examples 1918, 1981, 1994. And in some full seasons teams had decisions not equal to the number. For instance NL played best of three extra games to break ties in 1951, 1959, 1962. AL played one extra game to break ties in 1948 and 1978.

For starters, how about simply comparing years in this millennium with the same number in the preceding years that reached the World Series (WS)? 

2000 to 2023=48 teams in WS. 9 won at least 100.

1976 to 1999=48 teams in WS. 12 won at least 100. Oops. That includes short 1981, 1994, 1995. If we back it up three (?) years and ignore the short seasons, one additional 100 win team is added. Note that in 1995 Cleveland won 100 of 144 games.

Click this link to view all 121 years 1903-2023.

yearID
TeamCt: number of AL & NL teams
WinAve616: number of AL & NL teams with WinAve >= .616
WinAve616Pct: percent of AL & NL teams with WinAve >= .616
MaxWinAve: just that
MinWinAve: just that
WinAveDif: just that; MaxWinAve-MinWinAve
MaxWL: best team decisions: wins + Losses; excluding ties
MinWL: worst team decisions: wins + Losses; excluding ties

Spoiler alert: max WinAve616 = 4.

yearID	TeamCt	WinAve616	WinAve616Pct	MaxWinAv	MinWinAv	WinAveDif	MaxWL	MinWL
1903	16	2	12.50%	0.65942	0.31387	0.34555	140	134
1904	16	2	12.50%	0.69281	0.25166	0.44115	154	151
1905	16	3	18.75%	0.68627	0.31579	0.37049	154	148
1906	16	2	12.50%	0.76316	0.31818	0.44498	154	145
1907	16	1	6.25%	0.70395	0.3245	0.37944	154	145
1908	16	3	18.75%	0.64286	0.31818	0.32468	154	152
1909	16	4	25.00%	0.72368	0.27632	0.44737	153	150
1910	16	2	12.50%	0.68000	0.30519	0.37481	154	150
1911	16	2	12.50%	0.66887	0.29139	0.37748	154	149
1912	16	2	12.50%	0.69079	0.32895	0.36184	154	150
1913	16	2	12.50%	0.66447	0.34000	0.32447	154	149
1914	16	1	6.25%	0.65132	0.33333	0.31798	154	152
1915	16	2	12.50%	0.66887	0.28289	0.38598	154	151
1916	16	0	0.00%	0.61039	0.23529	0.37510	154	152

Plenty of teams 1903-1916 had MaxWinAve that exceeded .616.

20.7% (25 of the 121) seasons did not have any team with MaxWinAve greater than .616.

Four seasons had 4 teams with MaxWinAve greater than .616:

yearID	TeamCt	WinAve616	WinAve616Pct	MaxWinAv	MinWinAv	WinAveDif	MaxWL	MinWL
2022	30	4	13.33%	0.68519	0.33951	0.34568	162	162
2019	30	4	13.33%	0.66049	0.29193	0.36857	162	161
1949	16	4	25.00%	0.62987	0.32468	0.30519	154	154
1909	16	4	25.00%	0.72368	0.27632	0.44737	153	150

14.9% (18 of the 121) seasons had 3 teams with MaxWinAve greater than .616.

34.7% (42 of the 121) seasons had 2 teams with MaxWinAve greater than .616.

26.4% (32 of the 121) seasons had 1 team with MaxWinAve greater than .616.

Here are recent seasons:

yearID	TeamCt	WinAve616	WinAve616Pct	MaxWinAv	MinWinAv	WinAveDif	MaxWL	MinWL
2013	30	0	0.00%	0.59877	0.31481	0.28395	163	162
2014	30	0	0.00%	0.60494	0.39506	0.20988	162	162
2015	30	1	3.33%	0.61728	0.38889	0.2284	162	161
2016	30	1	3.33%	0.63975	0.36420	0.27555	162	161
2017	30	3	10.00%	0.64198	0.39506	0.24691	162	162
2018	30	3	10.00%	0.66667	0.29012	0.37654	163	161
2019	30	4	13.33%	0.66049	0.29193	0.36857	162	161
2020	30	3	10.00%	0.71667	0.31667	0.40000	60	58
2021	30	3	10.00%	0.66049	0.32099	0.33951	162	161
2022	30	4	13.33%	0.68519	0.33951	0.34568	162	162
2023	30	3	10.00%	0.64198	0.30864	0.33333	162	162

Four are the most teams in any season with MaxWinAve that exceeded .616. But obviously the WinAve616Pct is different because the TeamCt increased from 16 to 30: 25% versus 13.33%.

The 10 seasons with MaxWinAve greater than .70000:

yearID	TeamCt	WinAve616	WinAve616Pct	MaxWinAv	MinWinAv	WinAveDif	MaxWL	MinWL
1906	16	2	12.50%	0.76316	0.31818	0.44498	154	145
1909	16	4	25.00%	0.72368	0.27632	0.44737	153	150
1954	16	3	18.75%	0.72078	0.33117	0.38961	154	154
2020	30	3	10.00%	0.71667	0.31667	0.40000	60	58
2001	30	2	6.67%	0.71605	0.38272	0.33333	162	160
1927	16	1	6.25%	0.71429	0.33117	0.38312	154	153
1907	16	1	6.25%	0.70395	0.32450	0.37944	154	145
1931	16	2	12.50%	0.70395	0.36601	0.33793	154	152
1998	30	3	10.00%	0.70370	0.33333	0.37037	163	161
1939	16	2	12.50%	0.70199	0.27922	0.42277	154	151

The 10 seasons with the lowest MaxWinAve:

yearID	TeamCt	WinAve616	WinAve616Pct	MaxWinAv	MinWinAv	WinAveDif	MaxWL	MinWL
2012	30	0	0.00%	0.60494	0.33951	0.26543	162	162
2014	30	0	0.00%	0.60494	0.39506	0.20988	162	162
2000	30	0	0.00%	0.59877	0.40123	0.19753	162	161
2006	30	0	0.00%	0.59877	0.37654	0.22222	162	161
2010	30	0	0.00%	0.59877	0.35185	0.24691	162	162
2013	30	0	0.00%	0.59877	0.31481	0.28395	163	162
1958	16	0	0.00%	0.59740	0.3961	0.2013	154	153
2007	30	0	0.00%	0.59259	0.40741	0.18519	163	162
1926	16	0	0.00%	0.59091	0.30065	0.29026	154	150
1982	26	0	0.00%	0.58642	0.37037	0.21605	162	162

The 10 seasons with the biggest WinAveDif:

yearID	TeamCt	WinAve616	WinAve616Pct	MaxWinAv	MinWinAv	WinAveDif	MaxWL	MinWL
1909	16	4	25.00%	0.72368	0.27632	0.44737	153	150
1906	16	2	12.50%	0.76316	0.31818	0.44498	154	145
1904	16	2	12.50%	0.69281	0.25166	0.44115	154	151
1919	16	3	18.75%	0.68571	0.25714	0.42857	140	137
1939	16	2	12.50%	0.70199	0.27922	0.42277	154	151
1932	16	1	6.25%	0.69481	0.27922	0.41558	154	151
1942	16	3	18.75%	0.68831	0.27815	0.41017	154	147
1935	16	2	12.50%	0.64935	0.24837	0.40098	154	149
2020	30	3	10.00%	0.71667	0.31667	0.40000	60	58
1954	16	3	18.75%	0.72078	0.33117	0.38961	154	154

The 10 seasons with the lowest WinAveDif:

yearID	TeamCt	WinAve616	WinAve616Pct	MaxWinAv	MinWinAv	WinAveDif	MaxWL	MinWL
2015	30	1	3.33%	0.61728	0.38889	0.22840	162	161
1997	28	1	3.57%	0.62346	0.40123	0.22222	162	161
2006	30	0	0.00%	0.59877	0.37654	0.22222	162	161
1982	26	0	0.00%	0.58642	0.37037	0.21605	162	162
1992	26	0	0.00%	0.60494	0.38889	0.21605	162	162
2014	30	0	0.00%	0.60494	0.39506	0.20988	162	162
1958	16	0	0.00%	0.59740	0.39610	0.20130	154	153
1959	16	0	0.00%	0.61039	0.40909	0.20130	156	154
2000	30	0	0.00%	0.59877	0.40123	0.19753	162	161
2007	30	0	0.00%	0.59259	0.40741	0.18519	163	162

The 10 seasons with the biggest MinWinAve:

yearID	TeamCt	WinAve616	WinAve616Pct	MaxWinAv	MinWinAv	WinAveDif	MaxWL	MinWL
1959	16	0	0.00%	0.61039	0.40909	0.20130	156	154
1984	26	1	3.85%	0.64198	0.40741	0.23457	162	161
2007	30	0	0.00%	0.59259	0.40741	0.18519	163	162
1968	20	1	5.00%	0.63580	0.40373	0.23208	162	161
1994	28	2	7.14%	0.64912	0.40171	0.24741	117	112
1990	26	1	3.85%	0.63580	0.40123	0.23457	162	161
1997	28	1	3.57%	0.62346	0.40123	0.22222	162	161
2000	30	0	0.00%	0.59877	0.40123	0.19753	162	161
1944	16	1	6.25%	0.68182	0.39869	0.28313	154	153
1958	16	0	0.00%	0.59740	0.39610	0.20130	154	153

The 10 seasons with the lowest MinWinAve:

yearID	TeamCt	WinAve616	WinAve616Pct	MaxWinAv	MinWinAv	WinAveDif	MaxWL	MinWL
1941	16	3	18.75%	0.65584	0.27922	0.37662	154	153
1942	16	3	18.75%	0.68831	0.27815	0.41017	154	147
1909	16	4	25.00%	0.72368	0.27632	0.44737	153	150
1952	16	2	12.50%	0.62745	0.27273	0.35472	154	153
2003	30	3	10.00%	0.62346	0.26543	0.35802	162	161
1919	16	3	18.75%	0.68571	0.25714	0.42857	140	137
1904	16	2	12.50%	0.69281	0.25166	0.44115	154	151
1962	20	2	10.00%	0.62424	0.25000	0.37424	165	160
1935	16	2	12.50%	0.64935	0.24837	0.40098	154	149
1916	16	0	0.00%	0.61039	0.23529	0.3751	154	152

*** The End ***