Whether it's thanks to serendipity or geography, the alignment of baseball's leagues seems to have a kind of natural perfection. Like 60'6" from pitcher to batter, 90' between bases and 154 games in a season, eight teams per league is an ideal formula. Witness that in six of the past seven years, at least one pennant race has been decided on the final day of the season or in a tie-breaking playoff. (In the only season without a heart-stopping finish, 1947, the World Series, between the Yankees and the Dodgers, was acclaimed as the best in recent memory.)
This is an article from the July 19, 1993 issue Original Layout
Fans who have come to expect such rousing finishes should be heartened by this week's American League standings, where the top four teams—the White Sox, Red Sox, Yankees and Indians—are separated by four games. National League fans may have to adopt a team in the Junior Circuit for excitement: The Dodgers lead the Giants by 8½ games.
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W-L | Pct | GB | ||||
1944 | AL | Browns | 89-65 | .578 | — | Browns win andTigers lose on last day |
Tigers | 88-66 | .571 | 1 | |||
1945 | AL | Tigers | 88-65 | .575 | — | Tigers clinch on last day |
Senators | 87-67 | .565 | 1½ | |||
1946 | NL | Cardinals | 98-58 | .628 | — | Cardinals win best-of-three playoff |
Dodgers | 96-60 | .615 | 2 | |||
1948 | AL | Indians | 97-58 | .626 | — | Indians win one-game playoff |
Red Sox | 96-59 | .619 | 1 | |||
1949 | AL | Yankees | 97-57 | .630 | — | Yankees defeat Red Sox on last day |
Red Sox | 96-58 | .623 | 1 | |||
1949 | NL | Dodgers | 97-57 | .630 | — | Dodgers clinch on last day |
Cardinals | 96-58 | .623 | 1 | |||
1950 | NL | Phillies | 91-63 | .591 | — | Phillies beat Dodgers on last day |
Dodgers | 89-65 | .578 | 2 | |||
Statistics provided by the Elias Sports Bureau | ||||||
