Baseball

Excessive groups: Rockies and Royals

By Master Clone / September 16, 2023

The Colorado Rockies and Kansas Metropolis Royals are nearing the tip of a season they might each prefer to overlook.

The Rockies would possibly end the 2023 schedule with a triple-digit determine within the loss column. (In the event that they keep away from reaching 100, they’ll undoubtedly get shut.) The Royals haven’t any such uncertainty. They already know that this would be the seventh 100-defeat season of their 55-year historical past.

There have been happier occasions, after all. Colorado is simply 16 years faraway from the only World Sequence look for the reason that franchise’s creation in 1993, whereas the Royals nonetheless savor the world championship they received simply eight years in the past.

These ballclubs — the Rockies and the Royals — are the themes of right now’s have a look at the acute performances of a pair of groups in the course of the Fashionable Period, the interval between 1961 and the current. I’ve been working my manner via the alphabetical order of workforce nicknames on successive Fridays, resulting in this thirteenth installment in my 15-part collection.

Rankings of every franchise’s greatest and worst performances are primarily based on workforce scores (TS), that are plotted on an equalized 100-point scale, permitting us to make direct comparisons of golf equipment from totally different seasons. (Click on right here to study extra in regards to the TS system.)

These are the years at each extremes for right now’s golf equipment:

Finest 12 months for the Rockies: This was a easy selection, provided that Colorado secured its solely Nationwide League pennant in 2007. The Rockies received 14 of their ultimate 15 video games to clinch a wild-card berth, then rolled via the primary two rounds of the playoffs with a 7-0 document. Their momentum was derailed by the Boston Crimson Sox, who swept Colorado within the World Sequence. Left fielder Matt Holliday led the membership in homers (36), RBIs (137), and batting common (.340). First baseman Todd Helton batted .320. Pitcher Jeff Francis completed with a 17-9 document.

Worst 12 months for the Rockies: Colorado has by no means misplaced greater than 98 video games in a season, a document that it’d break in 2023. However these rankings exclude the present 12 months, thereby leaving 2005 because the worst squad in franchise historical past with its 67-95 document. Helton paced the workforce with a .320 common, exactly what he would hit two years later for the NL title workforce. And Francis once more led the pitching employees at 14-12.

Finest 12 months for the Royals: Kansas Metropolis has received a pair of world titles in its historical past, however TS considers the 2015 champs to have been the higher workforce. The Royals walked away with a 12-game margin within the American League Central, then went 11-5 within the postseason, which they capped with a five-game World Sequence victory over the New York Mets. Middle fielder Lorenzo Cain batted .307. Designated hitter Kendrys Morales drove dwelling 106 runs. And left fielder Alex Gordon topped the membership with an on-base share of .377.

Worst 12 months for the Royals: Kansas Metropolis touched backside in 2005, the identical 12 months that Colorado suffered its worst season. A horrendous 6-18 April set the Royals on observe to complete 50 video games under .500 at 56-106. Designated hitter Mike Sweeney nonetheless managed to vogue a .300 common. And 21-year-old pitcher Zack Greinke confirmed some promise regardless of his 5-17 document.

Look under for the ten high and backside seasons between 1993 and 2022 for Colorado or between 1969 and 2022 for Kansas Metropolis. Comparable rankings for all different Main League Baseball golf equipment may be discovered within the print version of Baseball’s Best (and Worst) 2023 Yearbook.

Every workforce is listed under with the 12 months in brackets, adopted by regular-season win-loss document, postseason outcomes (if any) in parentheses, margin between runs scored and allowed per recreation, and Fashionable Period percentile.

These are the postseason abbreviations: P signifies {that a} membership made the playoffs, L signifies that it received a league championship, and W signifies that it received the World Sequence.

The Fashionable Period percentile is the share of all 1,656 major-league golf equipment from 1961 via 2022 {that a} given workforce outperformed, primarily based on TS comparisons.

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  • 1. Rockies [2007], 90-73 (LP), plus-0.63 margin, 95.0% in period

  • 2. Rockies [2009], 92-70 (P), plus-0.55 margin, 84.2% in period

  • 3. Rockies [2010], 83-79, plus-0.33 margin, 67.0% in period

  • 4. Rockies [2018], 91-72 (P), plus-0.21 margin, 66.9% in period

  • 5. Rockies [2017], 87-75 (P), plus-0.41 margin, 64.4% in period

  • 6. Rockies [1995], 77-67 (P), plus-0.01 margin, 61.5% in period

  • 7. Rockies [2000], 82-80, plus-0.44 margin, 56.4% in period

  • 8. Rockies [1996], 83-79, minus-0.02 margin, 54.6% in period

  • 9. Rockies [1997], 83-79, plus-0.09 margin, 51.1% in period

  • 10. Rockies [2006], 76-86, plus-0.01 margin, 46.3% in period

  • 1. Rockies [2005], 67-95, minus-0.75 margin, 6.0% in period

  • 2. Rockies [1993], 67-95, minus-1.29 margin, 8.0% in period

  • 3. Rockies [2012], 64-98, minus-0.81 margin, 9.4% in period

  • 4. Rockies [2020], 26-34, minus-1.30 margin, 14.1% in period

  • 5. Rockies [1999], 72-90, minus-0.75 margin, 14.9% in period

  • 6. Rockies [2014], 66-96, minus-0.39 margin, 16.9% in period

  • 7. Rockies [2015], 68-94, minus-0.66 margin, 17.4% in period

  • 8. Rockies [2022], 68-94, minus-1.08 margin, 17.9% in period

  • 9. Rockies [2019], 71-91, minus-0.76 margin, 18.7% in period

  • 10. Rockies [2004], 68-94, minus-0.56 margin, 19.1% in period

  • 1. Royals [2015], 95-67 (WLP), plus-0.51 margin, 95.2% in period

  • 2. Royals [1980], 97-65 (LP), plus-0.71 margin, 92.4% in period

  • 3. Royals [1985], 91-71 (WLP), plus-0.30 margin, 92.1% in period

  • 4. Royals [1977], 102-60 (P), plus-1.06 margin, 90.3% in period

  • 5. Royals [2014], 89-73 (LP), plus-0.17 margin, 83.6% in period

  • 6. Royals [1976], 90-72 (P), plus-0.63 margin, 81.5% in period

  • 7. Royals [1989], 92-70, plus-0.34 margin, 79.9% in period

  • 8. Royals [1978], 92-70 (P), plus-0.67 margin, 77.9% in period

  • 9. Royals [1975], 91-71, plus-0.38 margin, 76.4% in period

  • 10. Royals [1982], 90-72, plus-0.41 margin, 73.7% in period

  • 1. Royals [2005], 56-106, minus-1.44 margin, 0.9% in period

  • 2. Royals [2006], 62-100, minus-1.32 margin, 1.8% in period

  • 3. Royals [2004], 58-104, minus-1.14 margin, 1.9% in period

  • 4. Royals [2009], 65-97, minus-0.96 margin, 6.9% in period

  • 5. Royals [2010], 67-95, minus-1.04 margin, 9.2% in period

  • 6. Royals [2022], 65-97, minus-1.05 margin, 9.6% in period

  • 7. Royals [2018], 58-104, minus-1.20 margin, 10.3% in period

  • 8. Royals [2007], 69-93, minus-0.44 margin, 13.5% in period

  • 9. Royals [2002], 62-100, minus-0.95 margin, 13.7% in period

  • 10. Royals [2019], 59-103, minus-1.10 margin, 13.9% in period

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