With all of the acquisitions the Texas Rangers made this past offseason -- most notably Alex Rodriguez, of course -- much talk has centered on just how potent their lineup can be. While some of the players the Rangers signed are not as young as a team might want, there's no doubt that they could potentially have a great lineup.
When one also considers that the Ballpark at Arlington is the best hitter's park in the American League, having inflated run production by 12 percent compared to other AL parks from 1998 to 2000, the number of runs the Rangers might score could be off the charts.
Since 1900, seven teams have scored 1,000 or more runs in a season, the most recent being the 1999 Cleveland Indians, who scored 1,009 runs to become the first team since the 1950 Boston Red Sox (1,027) to reach four digits. Amazingly enough, or maybe not so amazingly, four of those seven were New York Yankees teams of the 1930's: 1930 (1,062), 1931 (1,067), 1932 (1,002), and 1936 (1,065). The seventh team was the 1930 St. Louis Cardinals, who scored 1,004 runs.
All seven of these teams reached the 1,000 mark in years where a lot of runs were scored. If the average team in a league scores 800 runs, then is it really a great feat to score 900 or even 1,000? If we're trying to rank the greatest hitting teams of all time, shouldn't the context be considered? In five of the seven seasons in which a team scored 1,000+ runs, the league average was above 800. Twice, it was above 870. If that doesn't sound like a lot these days, consider that from 1963 through 1974, only four teams scored 800+ runs; that's four teams in twelve seasons.
What if we compare team total to the league average? Since 1920, here are the 10 best teams when compared to their league average for that season, not counting any Rockies teams:
Team Runs LG Avg Pct. above league
1931 Yankees 1067 794 +34.3
1976 Reds 857 645 +32.9
1950 Red Sox 1027 782 +31.4
1953 Dodgers 955 739 +29.2
1927 Yankees 975 762 +28.0
1930 Yankees 1062 834 +27.4
1942 Cardinals 755 598 +26.3
1965 Reds 825 656 +25.8
1946 Red Sox 792 630 +25.7
1975 Reds 840 668 +25.7
If you've read "Baseball Dynasties" (and if you haven't, why haven't you?!), you know that Rob Neyer and I used standard deviations from the league average to measure how much a team dominated its competition. Here are the 10 best teams since 1920, again not counting any Rockies teams, in terms of standard deviations above the league average in runs scored:
Team Runs Std Dev from LG Avg
1. 1976 Reds 857 +2.44
2. 1975 Reds 840 +2.36
3. 1953 Dodgers 955 +2.24
4. 1993 Phillies 877 +2.23
5. 1982 Brewers 891 +2.15
6. 1965 Twins 774 +2.14
7. 1986 Mets 783 +2.08
8. 1935 Tigers 919 +2.08
9. 1968 Tigers 671 +2.07
10. 1949 Dodgers 879 +2.06
What do you notice about these 10 teams, besides the fact that they include more recent teams than the first list? Give up? Every one of these teams made it to the World Series! (In case you're wondering, only six of the top 10 teams in terms of standard deviations better than the league average in runs allowed made it to the World Series. Still think baseball is 75 percent pitching?)
The other thing that really stands out, at least for me, is the high ranks on both lists of the 1953 Dodgers and the 1976 Reds. The Dodgers rank 4th and 3rd on the two lists; the Reds rank 2nd and 1st. If you ask me, I say the discussion about the best hitting teams of all time has to start with those two.
The 1953 Dodgers had five players with a slugging percentage of over .500, five players with an on-base percentage of .390, and six players with 100+ runs scored. Their .366 team OBP was 31 points better than the league average and 19 points better than the second-best team. Their .474 team slugging was 63 points better than the league average and 52 points better than the second-best team.
They got a little help from Ebbets Field, but they also led the league in runs scored in road games. Roy Campanella (.395 OBP/.611 SLG/.312 AVG/103 R/41 HR/142 RBI) was NL MVP, Duke Snider had a monster season (.419/.627/.336/132/42/126), and other notables like Jackie Robinson, Carl Furillo, Gil Hodges, and Rookie of the Year Junior Gilliam also made substantial contributions.
The 1976 Reds led the league in every meaningful offensive category -- runs scored (no kidding), hits, doubles, triples, home runs, walks, stolen bases, stolen base percentage, fewest GIDP, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and batting average.
Their .366 team OBP (coincidentally the same as the 1953 Dodgers) was 46 points better than the league average, 17 points better than the second-best team, and 36 points better than the third-best team. They were the only team in the league with a slugging percentage over .400. Their .424 mark -- kind of hard to believe now considering that the 2000 AL slugging percentage was .443 and the NL slugging percentage was .432 -- was 63 points above league average (also just like the 1953 Dodgers).
Joe Morgan won his second consecutive MVP with an incredible season, leading the league in OBP and SLG, and finishing second in the league in runs scored and RBI. George Foster was second in the league in slugging percentage and led the league in RBI for the first of his three straight seasons as RBI leader. Pete Rose led the NL in hits, doubles and runs and was second in total bases. Ken Griffey Sr., Rose and Morgan ranked 2nd, 4th and 5th in batting average.
No wonder they were called the Big Red Machine.
We'll have to wait to see if the 2001 Texas Rangers can achieve what the '53 Dodgers and '76 Reds achieved. If they do, you might just see the Rangers in the World Series.
Eddie Epstein works as a consultant to major league baseball teams. He is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.
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