World Series Losers: The Minus Years

Almost exactly a year ago, I did a two-part series that looked at all the World Series Champions and the differing player acquisition and attrition levels from those teams. I've spent the last year compiling the same information on every World Series losing team, and finally the results are in! If you need a refresher on how this works, I'd recommend reading the first post in the series, where I explain it all.

Anyway, how 'bout them runners-up?


Minus-24

Median: 0
Top Teams: 1933 WSH

Senators coach Nick Altrock and his late-season pinch-hitting appearance are the only thing to make a blip here. When Altrock's career as a regular player ended with the Senators in 1909, it began a long association with the franchise as a coach and baseball clown, who frequently made odd appearances in games for amusement's sake.


Minus-23

None


Minus-22

None


Minus-21

Median: 0
Top Teams: 1933 WSH

Altrock again, this time linked to a pitching appearance he'd made in 1912. Amazing that we have a publicity stunt connected to a publicity stunt here.


Minus-20

Median: 0
Top Teams: 1933 WSH

Guess who?


Minus-19

Median: 0
Top Teams: 1933 WSH

Yep, that's right!


Minus-18

Median: 0
Top Teams: 1933 WSH (2), 1925 WSH, 1954 CLE, 1989 SFG, 2011 TEX

The '33 Senators have two now, Altrock and Hall of Famer Sam Rice. Several other teams join the list, by virtue of great players like Walter Johnson! Bob Feller! Chris...Speier! Darren...Oliver? Well, they were players good enough to stick around, at least.


Minus-17

Median: 0
Top Teams: 1925 WSH, 1933 WSH, 1945 CHC, 1954 CLE, 1963 NYY, 1989 SFG, 2005 HOU, 2010 TEX, 2011 TEX

Much the same group, this time joined by the Yankees of Yogi Berra, the Astros of Craig Biggio and the Cubs of Johnny Moore.


Minus-16

Median: 0
Top Teams: 1925 WSH, 1933 WSH, 1938 CHC, 1940 DET, 1945 CHC, 1954 CLE, 1956 BRO, 1958 MLN, 1963 NYY, 1971 BAL, 1981 NYY, 1989 SFG, 1998 SDP, 2005 HOU, 2010 TEX, 2011 TEX

So many teams, but none has more than one player to represent it!


Minus-15

Median: 0
Top Teams: 1933 WSH (2), 1925 WSH, 1938 CHC, 1940 DET, 1945 CHC, 1954 CLE, 1956 BRO, 1963 NYY, 1968 STL, 1971 BAL, 1981 NYY, 1989 SFG, 1990 OAK, 1998 SDP, 2005 HOU, 2010 TEX, 2011 TEX

Nick Altrock appeared again in 1918 to put the '33 Senators back in the lead.


Minus-14

Median: 0
Top Teams: 1933 WSH (2), 1945 CHC (2), 1979 BAL (2), 2005 HOU (2)

Several teams are into the twos now. I'll bet most people couldn't name either of the two for the 1945 Cubs.


Minus-13

Median: 0
Top Teams: 1945 CHC (3), 1954 CLE (3), 1914 PHA (2), 1924 NYG (2), 1936 NYG (2), 1963 NYY (2), 1966 LAD (2), 1979 BAL (2), 1989 SFG (2), 2005 HOU (2)


Minus-12

Median: 1
Top Teams: 1942 NYY (3), 1914 PHA (2), 1924 NYG (2), 1933 WSH (2), 1936 NYG (2), 1938 CHC (2), 1945 CHC (2), 1954 CLE (2), 1963 NYY (2), 1966 LAD (2), 1975 BOS (2), 1979 BAL (2), 1986 BOS (2), 1989 SFG (2), 2005 HOU (2)


Minus-11

Median: 1
Top Teams: 1942 NYY (4), 1914 PHA (3), 1933 WSH (3), 1936 NYG (3), 1945 CHC (3), 1966 LAD (3), 1983 PHI (3)

The Yankees and their deep pockets are in the top spot all alone.


Minus-10

Median: 1
Top Teams: 1942 NYY (5), 1983 PHI (5), 1936 NYG (4), 1979 BAL (4)
Bottom Teams: 31 teams

The Paul Owens Phillies kept their players together better than a lot of people probably remember.


Minus-9

Median: 2
Top Teams: 1956 BRO (6), 1983 PHI (6), 1964 NYY (5), 1966 LAD (5), 1971 BAL (5)
Bottom Teams: 17 teams

1947 began the Jackie Robinson era in Brooklyn, as well as the beginning of one of the most successful player cores ever.


Minus-8

Median: 2
Top Teams: 1956 BRO (8), 1942 NYY (7), 2003 NYY (7), 1914 PHA (6), 1963 NYY (6), 1966 LAD (6), 1978 LAD (6), 1983 PHI (6)
Bottom Teams: 12 teams

That Brooklyn core gets more impressive with the 1948 debuts of Roy Campanella and Carl Erskine. It's not surprising that each of these teams at the top here was becoming somewhat dynastic.


Minus-7

Median: 3
Top Teams: 1956 BRO (9), 1966 LAD (8), 2003 NYY (8), 1942 NYY (7), 1955 NYY (7), 1957 NYY (7), 1978 LAD (7), 1999 ATL (7)
Bottom Teams: 1903 PIT (0), 1918 CHC (0), 1943 STL (0), 1951 NYG (0), 1967 BOS (0), 1984 SDP (0), 1992 ATL (0)

Then, in 1949, Don Newcombe joined the Brooklyn crew. We can also finally can see who the teams at the bottom were, and they were all teams near the beginning of an emergence. Not surprising.


Minus-6

Median: 4
Top Teams: 1978 LAD (12), 1956 BRO (11), 1914 PHA (10), 2001 NYY (10)
Bottom Teams: 1903 PIT (0), 1918 CHC (0), 1984 SDP (0), 1992 ATL (0)

Who knew that 1972 would be such a year of beginnings for the Los Angeles Dodgers? The 2001 Yankees also come out of nowhere to score high on this list thanks to the returns that year of '95-ers Randy Velarde and Sterling Hitchcock.


Minus-5

Median: 5
Top Teams: 1958 MLN (13), 1913 NYG (12), 1914 PHA (12), 1946 BOS (12), 1953 BRO (12), 1956 BRO (12), 1977 LAD (12), 1978 LAD (12)
Bottom Teams: 1903 PIT (1), 1918 CHC (1), 1991 ATL (1), 1907 DET (2), 1923 NYG (2), 1941 BRO (2), 1984 SDP (2), 2006 DET (2)

Every World Series loser had at least one player on their roster five seasons earlier, just as it was with the World Series Champions. We can see that the Braves' first year in Milwaukee was truly the beginning of an era as far as player personnel was concerned too.


Minus-4

Median: 8
Top Teams: 1913 NYG (16), 1955 NYY (16), 1956 BRO (16), 1958 MLN (14), 1971 BAL (14)
Bottom Teams: 1918 CHC (1), 1903 PIT (2), 1907 DET (3), 1984 SDP (3), 1988 OAK (3)

The teams at the top clearly knew the value of keeping a good thing together. The teams at the bottom knew how to rebuild quickly.


Minus-3

Median: 11
Top Teams: 1912 NYG (17), 1919 CHW (16), 1942 NYY (16), 1953 BRO (16), 1955 NYY (16), 1958 MLN (16), 1964 NYY (16), 1971 BAL (16), 1996 ATL (16)
Bottom Teams: 1918 CHC (3), 1948 BSN (4), 2008 TBR (4), 1988 OAK (6), 1903 PIT (7), 1940 DET (7), 1944 SLB (7), 1967 BOS (7), 1970 CIN (7)


Minus-2

Median: 15
Top Teams: 1966 LAD (22), 1971 BAL (22), 1945 CHC (21), 1964 NYY (20), 1978 LAD (20), 1990 OAK (20)
Bottom Teams: 1940 DET (8), 1922 NYY (9), 1903 PIT (10), 1906 CHC (10), 1918 CHC (10), 1921 NYY (10), 1934 DET (10), 1944 SLB (10), 1946 BOS (10)

It's curious that the 1945 Cubs keep popping up among the top teams. It seems that the Minus-2 year is where a pennant winner tends to begin to take shape.


Minus-1

Median: 21
Top Teams: 1992 ATL (32), 2013 STL (28), 1958 MLN (27), 1959 CHW (27), 1989 SFG (27), 2011 TEX (27), 2012 DET (27)
Bottom Teams: 1906 CHC (11), 1946 BOS (11), 1903 PIT (13), 1921 NYY (13), 1905 PHI (14), 1915 PHI (14), 1922 NYY (15), 1933 WSH (15), 1935 CHC (15)

The 1992 Braves brought back a whopping 32 players. I guess after that Cinderella season in 1991 they didn't have the heart to get rid of anyone (although they did get rid of some of them during the 1992 season). The teams at the bottom, unsurprisingly, come from an era of smaller rosters.


So there's your interesting trivia for the day. Next time we'll look at the plus years from the World Series losers!