[Lefty Noob]

Several years ago, author and baseball fan Harry Hollingsworth compiled a computer study to determine the best and worst Major League Baseball teams of all time. He recorded his complete finding in a book entitled "The Best and Worst Baseball Teams of All Time: From the '16 A's to the '27 Yanks to the Present", but he also posted the top 30 and bottom 30 teams through the 2000 season online at http://members.aol.com/tomho13/top30.html#TOP30

According to Hollingsworth's findings, the 10 best teams ever were:

1. 1927 New York Yankees
2. 1939 New York Yankees
3. 1998 New York Yankees
4. 1906 Chicago Cubs
5. 1944 St. Louis Cardinals
6. 1902 Pittsburgh Pirates
7. 1929 Philadelphia Athletics
8. 1995 Cleveland Indians
9. 1954 Cleveland Indians
10. 1936 New York Yankees

And the 10 worst teams in baseball history were:

1. 1916 Philadelphia Athletics
2. 1919 Philadelphia Athletics
3. 1904 Washington Nationals (Senators)
4. 1935 Boston Braves
5. 1962 New York Mets
6. 1952 Pittsburgh Pirates
7. 1911 Boston Rustlers (Braves)
8. 1938 Philadelphia Phillies
9. 1941 Philadelphia Phillies
10. 1939 St. Louis Browns

What do you think of his choices? Is Hollingsworth on the money, or off his rocker?

[MVB]

1998 Yanks should have been number 1.... but otherwise, the list is pretty good.

[Lefty Noob]

Even as a quasi-Tribe fan, I have a real problem with the 1995 Indians being ranked as the 8th best team in baseball history, considering they didn't even win the World Series that year. Sure, they won 100 games in a short season while leading MLB in batting average and AL in team ERA, but isn't that all essentially meaningless if you don't win the title?

[legend]

One glaring problem for me is the 1944 Cardinals, a team that played during WW II against teams without their stars. The St. Louis Browns were in their only World Series that year! There are none of the great Reds teams, none of the best Orioles squads, or Oakland teams of the 70s. I don't care what anyone says, the 62 Mets were the worst team ever. The 61 Yankees were pretty good, and how bad were the Tigers just a few years ago and the 72 Phillies, the team Carlton won 27 0f their 59 games! As far as I am concerned, if this guy could write a book about this subject, I should be making movies!

[cjg11582]

How the hell are all D-Rays teams absent on this list?

[ThePundit]

Lefty you're right. The 1995 Indians? They were better than the '73 A's? And the 1998 Yankees have to be somewhere on the list. It's so hard for me to compare old teams to present day. There's so little film of 1920's & 30's it's impossible to say.

The best teams since the 70's have been:

1) 1972 -1974 Oakland A's
2) 1998-2000 Yankees
3) 1975-1976 Reds

[desertrat]

How do the 1995 Indians rate ahead of the Mariners team that set the record for wins? Since neither won a title, the Mariners should have been rated ahead of the Indians.

[Wizard of Os]

Ah, one of the all-time great baseball debates...let's see...his best ten seems somewhat reasonable...

Although.

I don't at all buy the 1902 Pirates or the 1995 Indians (?!??!??!?!?) at all. And one team in all the years from 1944-1995 made it? Where's the Big Red Machine? Where are the Casey Stengel Yankees? What about the 1955 Dodgers? Or the hip 70s A's?

As for the worst, i don't believe in any list that doesn't have the 1962 Mets in the "top" two. Where's my favorite, the 1899 Cleveland Spiders (20-134)? They were so bad, they folded after the season ended. And weren't the Phillies known as the Blue Jays in 1941?

Cheers, all. Have fun kicking this one around...

[Wizard of Os]

Originally Posted by cjg11582

How the hell are all D-Rays teams absent on this list?

Hear, hear!

[Wizard of Os]

Originally Posted by legend

...if this guy could write a book about this subject, I should be making movies!

"Coming soon to a theatre near you, the man, the Legend, but mostly the Legend

"In a film they had to call,

"Legend: The Legend of Legend.

"Directed by Legend and starring Legend, Legend: The Legend of Legend is certain to become Legendary.

"Rated RS-35. Red Sox fans under 35 years old will not be admitted without parent or waiver form."