Over the course of 145 seasons (from 1876 to 2023, excluding 1981, 1994, and 2020), 119 teams have won 100 or more games in a single Major League Baseball season. While this makes the feat a relatively common occurrence, the 100-win threshold remains the hallmark of the best teams in a given season.
The franchise with the most 100-win seasons is the New York Yankees, who have done so 21 times, with the Los Angeles Dodgers being second with 11 occasions. Sixty different managers have led a team to a 100-win season, with only one occasion where a 100-win team was led by multiple managers. Twenty-four managers have led a franchise to two or more 100-win seasons; Sparky Anderson, Whitey Herzog, Tony La Russa, Dusty Baker and Buck Showalter are the only managers to have led multiple franchises to a 100-win season. Joe McCarthy and Bobby Cox have the most 100-win seasons by a manager with six. Seven of the 30 major league franchises have never recorded a season with 100 wins. [lower-alpha 1] Among rookie managers, seven have accomplished 100 wins in their inaugural season, with the first being Mickey Cochrane in 1934 and the last being Rocco Baldelli in 2019. [1] 68 of the 116 100-win teams have advanced to the World Series (.586), with 38 of them going on to win the Series (for a percentage of .559), while 23 teams that have won 100 games have lost in the first round of the postseason, with 22 being in the Division Series and one being in the Wild Card Series (introduced in 2022 full-time).
Listed below are the Major League Baseball franchises that have had seasons with 100 or more wins.
On eight occasions, the level of high-quality competition within a league or division has resulted in a team winning 100 games but still failing to qualify for postseason play. Six of these eight seasons occurred before the start of the two-division league structure and expanded playoff format introduced in 1969, and none have occurred since the first year under the Divisional Series format in 1995. [2]
While there have been 30 seasons with two or more 100-win teams, only 11 times have at least three teams finished at or above the mark, and 2019 and 2022 are the only instances of four teams finishing at or above the 100-win threshold.
Season | Team #1 | Team #2 | Team #3 | Team #4 |
---|---|---|---|---|
1942 | St. Louis Cardinals, NL (106–48) (.688) | Brooklyn Dodgers, NL (104–50) (.675) | New York Yankees, AL (103–51) (.669) | |
1977 | Kansas City Royals, AL (102–60) (.630) | Philadelphia Phillies, NL (101–61) (.623) | New York Yankees, AL (100–62) (.617) | |
1998 | New York Yankees, AL (114–48) (.704) | Atlanta Braves, NL (106–56) (.654) | Houston Astros, NL (102–60) (.630) | |
2002 | New York Yankees, AL (103–58) (.640) | Oakland Athletics, AL (103–59) (.636) | Atlanta Braves, NL (101–59) (.631) | |
2003 | New York Yankees, AL (101–61) (.623) | Atlanta Braves, NL (101–61) (.623) | San Francisco Giants, NL (100–61) (.621) | |
2017 | Los Angeles Dodgers, NL (104–58) (.642) | Cleveland Indians, AL (102–60) (.630) | Houston Astros, AL (101–61) (.623) | |
2018 | Boston Red Sox, AL (108–54) (.667) | Houston Astros, AL (103–59) (.636), | New York Yankees, AL (100–62) (.617) | |
2019 | Houston Astros, AL (107–55) (.660) | Los Angeles Dodgers, NL (106–56) (.654) | New York Yankees, AL (103–59) (.636) | Minnesota Twins, AL (101–61) (.623) |
2021 | San Francisco Giants, NL (107–55) (.660), | Los Angeles Dodgers, NL (106–56) (.654), | Tampa Bay Rays, AL (100–62) (.617) | |
2022 | Los Angeles Dodgers, NL (111–51) (.685) | Houston Astros, AL (106–56) (.654) | Atlanta Braves, NL (101–61) (.623) | New York Mets, NL (101–61) (.623) |
2023 | Atlanta Braves, NL (104–58) (.642) | Baltimore Orioles, AL (101–61) (.623) | Los Angeles Dodgers, NL (100–62) (.617) |
The 2018 season was the first time either league had more than two teams win 100 or more games in the same season; the Boston Red Sox, Houston Astros, and New York Yankees of the American League each won 100 or more games, with two led by rookie managers (no season had ever seen more than 100 wins from two managers before). There were no 100-win teams in the National League that season. The 2019 season marked the first time four Major League teams won 100 or more games, with the American League's Houston Astros, New York Yankees, and Minnesota Twins winning their divisions with at least 100 wins, and the Los Angeles Dodgers of the National League doing the same.
With the Divisional Series and Wild Card format in place today, it is extremely unlikely for a team with a 100-win regular season to fail to qualify for at least a Wild Card berth. Only the 2001 Oakland Athletics, the 2018 New York Yankees, the 2021 Los Angeles Dodgers and the 2022 New York Mets made the playoffs as 100-win Wild Card teams. [3]
The following teams missed the postseason despite winning 100 games or more during the regular season:
† | Denotes manager to do so as a rookie |
Manager (X) | Denotes the number of times the manager has won 100 games |
Bold | Denotes manager whose team won championship that year |
Donald Arthur Mattingly is an American professional baseball coach, and former first baseman and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). He is the bench coach for the Toronto Blue Jays of MLB. Nicknamed "the Hit Man" and "Donnie Baseball", he spent his entire 14-year MLB playing career with the New York Yankees and later managed the Los Angeles Dodgers for five years and the Miami Marlins for seven years.
Joseph Paul Torre Jr. is an American professional baseball executive and former player, manager, and television color commentator. He has served as a special assistant to the Commissioner of Baseball since 2020. He previously served in the capacity of Major League Baseball's (MLB) chief baseball officer from 2011 to 2020. Torre ranks fifth all-time in MLB history with 2,326 wins as a manager. With 2,342 hits during his playing career, Torre is the only major leaguer to achieve both 2,000 hits as a player and 2,000 wins as a manager. From 1996 to 2007, he was the manager of the New York Yankees, and guided the team to six American League (AL) pennants and four World Series championships.
David Ray Roberts, nicknamed "Doc", is a Japanese-American professional baseball manager and former outfielder who is the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for five MLB teams over a ten-year career and then coached for the San Diego Padres before being named Dodgers manager in 2016. Although he played for the Boston Red Sox for only part of one season, his most notable achievement as a player was a key stolen base in the 2004 American League Championship Series that extended the Red Sox's postseason, which culminated in a championship in the 2004 World Series. Roberts batted and threw left-handed.
William Larry Randolph is an American former professional baseball second baseman, coach, and manager. During an 18-year career in Major League Baseball (MLB), he played from 1975 to 1992 for six different teams, most notably the New York Yankees with whom he won back-to-back world titles against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He has joined ESPN as a post-season baseball analyst, beginning in September 2013. Mainly, he appeared on Baseball Tonight and provided updates during Monday and Wednesday night September network telecasts.
Andrew Jay Hinch is an American professional baseball coach and former player who is the manager of the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Hinch played catcher for the Oakland Athletics (1998–2000), Kansas City Royals (2001–2002), Detroit Tigers (2003), and Philadelphia Phillies (2004).
Johnny Lane Oates was an American professional baseball player, coach, and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a catcher for the Baltimore Orioles, Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers, and New York Yankees from 1970 to 1981. During his playing career, Oates was a light-hitting player who was valued for his defensive skills and played most of his career as a reserve player. It was as a big league manager that Oates experienced his greatest success, when, under his leadership, the Texas Rangers won three American League Western Division titles.
Charles Fuqua Manuel Jr. is an American former professional baseball player, coach, and manager. During his playing career, he appeared over parts of six Major League Baseball seasons for the Minnesota Twins and Los Angeles Dodgers, before playing another six seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball with the Yakult Swallows and Kintetsu Buffaloes. Over four successive seasons in NPB, Manuel hit at least .312 with 37 home runs each season and won the 1979 Pacific League Most Valuable Player Award.
Harry Arthur "Cookie" Lavagetto was an American professional baseball player, coach, and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a third baseman from 1934 to 1947.
Roy Thomas Hartsfield was an American second baseman and manager in Major League Baseball; his MLB playing and managing careers each lasted three years. Hartsfield played his entire major league career with the Boston Braves from 1950 to 1952. He was then traded to the Brooklyn Dodgers for outfielder Andy Pafko.
Joseph John Maddon is an American former professional baseball manager and coach. He has managed the Tampa Bay Rays, Chicago Cubs, and Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB).
The 1946 Boston Red Sox season was the 46th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished first in the American League (AL) with a record of 104 wins and 50 losses. This was the team's sixth AL championship, and their first since 1918. In the 1946 World Series, the Red Sox lost to the National League (NL) champion St. Louis Cardinals, whose winning run in the seventh game was scored on Enos Slaughter's famous "Mad Dash".
The 1961 Los Angeles Angels season ended with the Angels finishing eighth in the American League with a record of 70–91, 38+1⁄2 games behind the World Champion New York Yankees. It was the Angels' first season in franchise history, and their only season at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles. Gene Autry owned the franchise, which was created as a counterpart to the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the two teams would even share the same stadium the following year when the Angels moved to Dodger Stadium.
The Newark Yankees were a minor league baseball team based in Newark, Ohio. From 1948 to 1951, the "Yankees" played as members of the Class D level Ohio-Indiana League as an affiliate of the New York Yankees. Before the league changed names, the Newark "Moundsmen" played as members of the Class D level Ohio State League from 1944 to 1947, winning the 1944 league championship. The Moundsmen were a minor league affiliate of the St. Louis Browns. Newark hosted minor league home games at White Field from 1944 to 1946 before moving to Arnold Park from 1947 to 1951.
Minor league baseball teams were based in Easton, Maryland between 1924 and 1949. Easton teams played as exclusively as members of the Class D level Eastern Shore League from 1924 to 1928, 1937 to 1941 and 1946 to 1949.
The 1981 Major League Baseball postseason was the playoff tournament of Major League Baseball for the 1981 season. The season had a players' strike, which lasted from June 12 to July 31, and split the season into two halves. Teams that won their division in each half of the season advanced to the playoffs. Teams faced each other in a League Division Series for the first time, a round of the postseason that did not return until 1995, where it became a permanent addition. The winners of the LDS moved on to the League Championship Series to determine the pennant winners that face each other in the World Series.
The 2019 Major League Baseball postseason was the playoff tournament of Major League Baseball for the 2019 season. The winners of the League Division Series would move on to the League Championship Series to determine the pennant winners that face each other in the World Series.