Dodgers go 90, again
09/19/2024 11:09 AM
Every full season since 2013, the Dodgers have won at least 90 games. No other MLB team has more than six 90-win years during that time.
By beating the Marlins on Wednesday night in Miami, the Dodgers have reached 90 wins for the 11th full season in a row, an accomplishment that should be celebrated even amid obviously loftier goals.
Yes, this year will be the Dodgers' worst winning percentage in the regular season since 2018, and unless they win their final 10 games will snap their streak of four consecutive full seasons with 100-plus wins, unprecedented in MLB history. But getting to 90 wins should still be celebrated.
Some time soon — perhaps as early as Thursday by beating the Marlins OR getting losses by both the Braves and Mets — the Dodgers will clinch their 12th consecutive playoff berth, dating back to 2013. To put this run in perspective, the Dodgers have 11 seasons with 90 wins during that span, with only the truncated 2020 campaign falling short. The next-best teams have only six 90-win years during the last dozen years. The Guardians (88-65) will add a seventh season this year, the Astros might (needing to finish 10-2), and the Cardinals (77-75) won't get to 90 in 2024.
The only other franchise to ever have a longer streak of 90-win seasons is the Yankees, who won at least 92 games a dozen years in a row, every season from 1947-58. That stretch is even more remarkable considering the schedule was only 154 games back then instead of 162. Those Yankees won eightWorld Series during that stretch, including five Fall Classic wins over the Dodgers, but none of those teams ever had to navigate extra postseason rounds either.
The Yankees from 1947-58 had a .628 winning percentage, 20 points ahead of the next-best team during that time (Brooklyn at .608). These Dodgers over the last dozen seasons have a .612 winning percentage, 50 points ahead of the next-best (Yankees at .562).
Ninety wins in 162 games is equivalent to 85.56 wins over 154 games, so let's round that up to 86 wins. The best Dodgers stretch under those conditions was eight straight years in Brooklyn from 1949-56.
Other long streaks include the Cubs having a 10-year stretch of at least at least 86 wins from 1904-13. Atlanta won 90-plus games in nine straight full seasons from 1991-2000 (excluding the 1994 strike season, when they were on pace for 97 wins). The Cardinals got to seven straight years of 86 or more wins from 1941-47, Same for the New York Giants from 1919-1925.
These Dodgers clearly have bigger goals in mind, first of which is winning the National League West, then winning the World Series. We and they are well aware how disappointing it was to fall flat in the last two NL Division Series after winning in triple digits.
But winning 90-plus games is remarkable, especially to do so consistency for such a long stretch. It's perfectly fine to acknowledge and appreciate that, even as a step along a longer journey.
