All five in five years

Karen, you may be my only reader (of seven) who cares, so this one’s for you. Congratulations on your team, the Giants, winning the division. (They will win one game this weekend, won’t they?)

Here’s a little fact for you: If the Giants go to the playoffs — they’re one win away — that will mean that in the last five seasons all five NL West teams have reached the playoffs. All five in five years — no other division can claim anything even close to this. Here’s how many seasons back you have to go to say that every team in a division has made the postseason:

AL East: 18 seasons (Toronto last made it in 1983)
AL Central: 26 seasons (Kansas City last made it in 1985)
AL West: 10 seasons (Seattle last made it in 2001 — and remember there are only four teams in the AL West)

NL East: Infinity (Washington has never made the postseason; if you want to go back to their days in Montreal you have to go back to 1981).
NL Central: 19 seasons (PIttsburgh last made it in 1992 — have not had a winning season since).
NL West: 5 seasons (The Padres last made it in 2006)

From a post on the NL West by Joe Posnanski.

5 thoughts on “All five in five years”

  1. I’ve been staying VERY quiet about this in order not to anger the Baseball Gods.

    I must stay humble. I remember the year 2002. It still hurts. 2010 could bring healing.

    But we don’t say things like this aloud.

    As to your question “They will win one game this weekend, won’t they?”

    I’m just saying…don’t count chickens until they hatch. The Padres have A LOT to fight for this weekend.

    (By the by, that stat about all five of the NL West reaching the playoffs over five years? It’s a fine bit of recompense for being called the weakest division in MLB for so many years. Chew on THAT East Coast journalists!)

    By the by, your Rockies had a hell of a season. They are a team to be reckoned with.

  3. Oh, c’mon now Karen. The weekend needed a little baseball drama.

    Besides, Atlanta lost. Maybe both the Giants and Padres can go to the postseason.

    Thanks for the kind words about the Rockies but any team that goes 1-13 the last two weeks deserves contempt. Their best pitcher has gone 4-7 since he started the All Star Game.

  5. I remember 2002, too, Karen. It was awesome. 🙂

    They never should have gotten out that champagne.

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