Over the course of 129 seasons (from 1892 to 2023 excluding 1981, 1994, and 2020), 116 teams have won 100 or more games in a single Major League Baseball season. While this makes the feat a relatively common occurrence, the 100-win threshold remains the hallmark of the best teams in a given season.
The franchise with the most 100-win seasons is the New York Yankees, who have done so 21 times, with the Los Angeles Dodgers being second with eleven occasions. Sixty different managers have led a team to a 100-win season, with only one occasion where a 100-win team was led by multiple managers. Twenty-four managers have led a franchise to two or more 100-win seasons; Sparky Anderson, Whitey Herzog, Tony La Russa, Dusty Baker and Buck Showalter are the only managers to have led multiple franchises to a 100-win season. Joe McCarthy and Bobby Cox have the most 100-win seasons by a manager with six. Seven of the 30 major league franchises have never recorded a season with 100 wins. [a] Among rookie managers, seven have accomplished 100 wins in their inaugural season, with the first being Mickey Cochrane in 1934 and the last being Rocco Baldelli in 2019. [1] 68 of the 116 100-win teams have advanced to the World Series (.586), with 38 of them going on to win the Series (for a percentage of .559), while 23 teams that have won 100 games have lost in the first round of the postseason, with 22 being in the Division Series and one being in the Wild Card Series (introduced in 2022 full-time).
Listed below are the Major League Baseball franchises that have had seasons with 100 or more wins.
On eight occasions, the level of high-quality competition within a league or division has resulted in a team winning 100 games but still failing to qualify for postseason play. Six of these eight seasons occurred before the start of the two-division league structure and expanded playoff format introduced in 1969, and none have occurred since the first year under the Divisional Series format in 1995. [2]
While there have been 25 seasons with two or more 100-win teams, only ten times have at least three teams finished at or above the mark, and 2019 and 2022 are the only instances of four teams finishing at or above the 100-win threshold.
Season | Team #1 | Team #2 | Team #3 | Team #4 |
---|---|---|---|---|
1942 | St. Louis Cardinals, NL ( 106–48) (.688) | Brooklyn Dodgers, NL ( 104–50) (.675) | New York Yankees, AL ( 103–51) (.669) | |
1977 | Kansas City Royals, AL ( 102–60) (.630) | Philadelphia Phillies, NL ( 101–61) (.623) | New York Yankees, AL ( 100–62) (.617) | |
1998 | New York Yankees, AL ( 114–48) (.704) | Atlanta Braves, NL ( 106–56) (.654) | Houston Astros, NL ( 102–60) (.630) | |
2002 | New York Yankees, AL ( 103–58) (.640) | Oakland Athletics, AL ( 103–59) (.636) | Atlanta Braves, NL ( 101–59) (.631) | |
2003 | New York Yankees, AL ( 101–61) (.623) | Atlanta Braves, NL ( 101–61) (.623) | San Francisco Giants, NL ( 100–61) (.621) | |
2017 | Los Angeles Dodgers, NL ( 104–58) (.642) | Cleveland Indians, AL ( 102–60) (.630) | Houston Astros, AL ( 101–61) (.623) | |
2018 | Boston Red Sox, AL ( 108–54) (.667) | Houston Astros, AL ( 103–59) (.636), | New York Yankees, AL ( 100–62) (.617) | |
2019 | Houston Astros, AL ( 107–55) (.660) | Los Angeles Dodgers, NL ( 106–56) (.654) | New York Yankees, AL ( 103–59) (.636) | Minnesota Twins, AL ( 101–61) (.623) |
2021 | San Francisco Giants, NL ( 107–55) (.660), | Los Angeles Dodgers, NL ( 106–56) (.654), | Tampa Bay Rays, AL ( 100–62) (.617) | |
2022 | Los Angeles Dodgers, NL ( 111–51) (.685) | Houston Astros, AL ( 106–56) (.654) | Atlanta Braves, NL ( 101–61) (.623) | New York Mets, NL ( 101–61) (.623) |
2023 | Atlanta Braves, NL ( 104–58) (.642) | Baltimore Orioles, AL ( 101–61) (.623) | Los Angeles Dodgers, NL ( 100–62) (.617) |
The 2018 season was the first time both leagues had more than two teams win 100 or more games in the same season; the Boston Red Sox, Houston Astros, and New York Yankees of the American League each won 100 or more games, with two led by rookie managers (no season had ever seen more than 100 wins from two managers before). There were no 100-win teams in the National League that season. The 2019 season marked the first time four Major League teams won 100 or more games, with the American League's Houston Astros, New York Yankees, and Minnesota Twins winning their divisions with at least 100 wins, and the Los Angeles Dodgers of the National League doing the same.
With the Divisional Series and Wild Card format in place today, it is extremely unlikely for a team with a 100-win regular season to fail to qualify for at least a Wild Card berth. Only the 2001 Oakland Athletics, the 2018 New York Yankees, the 2021 Los Angeles Dodgers and the 2022 New York Mets made the playoffs as 100-win Wild Card teams. [3]
The following teams missed the postseason despite winning 100 games or more during the regular season:
† | Denotes manager to do so as a rookie |
Manager (X) | Denotes the number of times the manager has won 100 games |
Bold | Denotes manager whose team won championship that year |