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Top 16 Teams, 1901-19
(survey)

index of Deadball Era Resources

Deadball Era Committee members in 2001 selected the best teams of the Era, judged by single seasons. Each voter ranked ten teams first to tenth.

Here, the top-ranked season for each club is listed in bold.

  1. : 1906 Chicago NL
  2. : 1902 Pittsburgh NL
  3. : 1909 Pittsburgh NL
  4. : 1912 Boston AL
  5. : 1910 Philadelphia AL
  6. : 1911 Philadelphia AL
  7. : 1904 New York NL
  8. : 1905 New York NL
  9. : 1907 Chicago NL
  10. : 1917 Chicago AL
  11. : 1912 New York NL
  12. : 1909 Detroit AL
  13. : 1919 Cincinnati NL
  14. : 1914 Boston NL
  15. : 1913 Philadelphia AL
  16. : 1916 Boston AL
Notes. The "Top 16" represent nine different ballclubs, four AL and five NL. Three teams represent the Athletics and Giants; two each, the Pirates, Cubs, and Red Sox. Two teams represent 1909 and 1912. Three of the 16 were the World Series losers in 1906, 1909, and 1912; eleven were Series winners; two played in 1902 and 1904, before the Series was established.

Were the 1909 Detroit Tigers better than the 1909 Philadelphia Athletics? Ah, to the winner go the spoils.

Acknowledgments. Angelo Louisa designed and conducted the survey. Notes by Paul Wendt.

2002-02-18
Last modified: 2002-03-04 (notes)
Paul Wendt
© Society for American Baseball Research, 2002