This is our old blog. It hasn't been active since 2011. Please see the link above for our current blog or click the logo above to see all of the great data and content on this site.

19 Wins Within First 27 Games Since 1993

Posted by Steve Lombardi on May 2, 2011

The Cleveland Indians have won 19 of their first 27 games this season.  How many teams had 19+ wins in their first 27 games since 1993?

Here's the list:

Rk Tm Year #Matching W L  
1 SEA 2001 21 21 0 Ind. Games
2 NYY 1998 21 21 0 Ind. Games
3 NYY 2003 21 21 0 Ind. Games
4 TBR 2010 20 20 0 Ind. Games
5 PHI 1995 20 20 0 Ind. Games
6 PHI 1993 20 20 0 Ind. Games
7 MIN 2001 20 20 0 Ind. Games
8 CHW 2005 20 20 0 Ind. Games
9 BOS 2002 20 20 0 Ind. Games
10 BOS 1994 20 20 0 Ind. Games
11 ATL 1997 20 20 0 Ind. Games
12 ATL 2000 20 20 0 Ind. Games
13 SFG 2003 19 19 0 Ind. Games
14 SDP 1998 19 19 0 Ind. Games
15 NYY 2000 19 19 0 Ind. Games
16 NYY 2010 19 19 0 Ind. Games
17 LAD 2009 19 19 0 Ind. Games
18 COL 1997 19 19 0 Ind. Games
19 CLE 1999 19 19 0 Ind. Games
20 CLE 2011 19 19 0 Ind. Games
21 CLE 1996 19 19 0 Ind. Games
22 CIN 2006 19 19 0 Ind. Games
23 CHW 2006 19 19 0 Ind. Games
24 BOS 1998 19 19 0 Ind. Games
25 BAL 1997 19 19 0 Ind. Games
26 ATL 1999 19 19 0 Ind. Games
27 ARI 2008 19 19 0 Ind. Games
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/2/2011.

.

So, since Cleveland Rocks, does this mean they get to Party Like It's 1999?

12 Responses to “19 Wins Within First 27 Games Since 1993”

  1. Doug Says:

    Looks like 19 of 26 (omitting 1994) made the post-season. So, that should be encouraging for Tribe.

    But, only 6 ('93 PHI, '98 SDP, '98 NYY, '99 ATL, '00 NYY, '05 CHW) won a pennant.

  2. Lawrence Azrin Says:

    "So, since Cleveland Rocks, does this mean they get to Party Like It's 1999?"

    If they Party Like It's 1899, it won't be much of a party: 20 wins and 134 losses.

  3. Charles Saeger Says:

    Looking at only the teams that won 19 games (14), they averaged 93 wins at the end of the day -- good but not great. Notably, the 2008 Diamondbacks (82-80), the 2006 Reds (80-82) and the 1997 Rockies (83-79) really didn't play all that well after this point.

  4. DavidRF Says:

    Here is the all-time list courtesy of the frivolities section:

    http://www.baseball-reference.com/games/streaks.cgi?games=27&year=ALL&SHOW=TOT&includes=start_year&game_start=10&game_end=135&teams=ALL&orderby=wins&submit=Find+Streaks

    All-time record is the 1875 Red Stockings 26-0-1. If my memory is correct, their dominance is part of the reason why the NA had to be disbanded and re-formed the next year as the NL. Could be wrong though.

    NL record is the 1907 Giants 24-3 who finished 4th. The Cubs started 23-4 that year. Cool standings on May 18th of that year:

    http://www.baseball-reference.com/games/standings.cgi?date=1907-05-18

    The AL Record is 23-4 shared by the 1946 Red Sox and 1984 Tigers.

  5. John Autin Says:

    @4, DavidRF -- Wow, those 1907 Giants really came back to earth! After their 24-3 start, they went 58-68 the rest of the way, finishing in 4th place ... 25.5 GB the Cubs, who just kept on winning.

    Thanks for the link.

  6. Kelly Says:

    No offense but this is just raw data; some context would be nice. How about some additional columns indicating how these teams ended up, whether they made the postseason and how they fared?

  7. 19 Wins Within First 27 Games Since 1993 » Stathead » Blog Archive Says:

    [...] 19 Wins Within First 27 Games Since 1993: Steve Lombardi of B-R found teams, like the 2011 Indians, who won 19 of their first 27 games in a season. [...]

  8. Pete Says:

    Cleveland's state mates in '06 ended with only 80 wins. Can Sizemore & Santana lead them to a winning season?

  9. kenh Says:

    Only 2 WS winners and the 93 champs didn't even make the list.

  10. Surprise Tribe in Oakland « The Todd Van Poppel Rookie Card Retirement Plan Says:

    [...] believing that the Indians are real, and there are many other skeptics out there along with me. The Baseball-Reference.com Blog had a piece showing all the teams that started their seasons by winning at least 19 of their first [...]

  11. John Autin Says:

    @6, Kelly -- This is for you (if it posts neatly, which it might not):

    Rk Tm Year W-of28 W-Final L-Final Postseason?
    1 SEA 2001 21 116 46 LCS
    2 NYY 1998 21 114 48 CHAMP
    3 NYY 2003 21 101 61 WS
    4 TBR 2010 20 96 66 DS
    5 PHI 1995 20 69 75 --
    6 PHI 1993 20 97 65 WS
    7 MIN 2001 20 85 77 --
    8 CHW 2005 20 99 63 CHAMP
    9 BOS 2002 20 93 69 --
    10 BOS 1994 20 54 61 n/a
    11 ATL 1997 20 101 61 LCS
    12 ATL 2000 20 95 67 DS
    13 SFG 2003 19 100 61 DS
    14 SDP 1998 19 98 64 WS
    15 NYY 2000 19 87 74 CHAMP
    16 NYY 2010 19 95 67 LCS
    17 LAD 2009 19 95 67 LCS
    18 COL 1997 19 83 79 --
    19 CLE 1999 19 97 65 DS
    20 CLE 2011 19 ??? ??? ???
    21 CLE 1996 19 99 62 DS
    22 CIN 2006 19 80 82 --
    23 CHW 2006 19 90 72 --
    24 BOS 1998 19 92 70 DS
    25 BAL 1997 19 98 64 LCS
    26 ATL 1999 19 103 59 WS
    27 ARI 2008 19 82 80 --
    AVG 93.0 66.3

  12. John Autin Says:

    This one might look a little neater:

    # ... Team ... Year .. W/28 . W/Yr . L/Yr . Postseason?
    ..1 ... SEA ... 2001 ... 21 ... 116 ... 46 ... LCS
    ..2 ... NYY .... 1998 ... 21 ... 114 ... 48 ... CHAMP
    ..3 ... NYY .... 2003 ... 21 ... 101 ... 61 ... WS
    ..4 ... TBR .... 2010 ... 20 ..... 96 ... 66 ... DS
    ..5 ... PHI ..... 1995 ... 20 ..... 69 ... 75 ... --
    ..6 ... PHI ..... 1993 ... 20 ..... 97 ... 65 ... WS
    ..7 ... MIN ..... 2001 ... 20 ..... 85 ... 77 ... --
    ..8 ... CHW .. 2005 ... 20 ..... 99 ... 63 ... CHAMP
    ..9 ... BOS ... 2002 ... 20 ..... 93 ... 69 ... --
    10 ... BOS ... 1994 ... 20 ..... 54 ... 61 ... n/a
    11 ... ATL .... 1997 ... 20 ... 101 ... 61 ... LCS
    12 ... ATL .... 2000 ... 20 ..... 95 ... 67 ... DS
    13 ... SFG ... 2003 ... 19 ... 100 ... 61 ... DS
    14 ... SDP ... 1998 ... 19 ..... 98 ... 64 ... WS
    15 ... NYY .... 2000 ... 19 ..... 87 ... 74 ... CHAMP
    16 ... NYY .... 2010 ... 19 ..... 95 ... 67 ... LCS
    17 ... LAD ... 2009 ... 19 ..... 95 ... 67 ... LCS
    18 ... COL ... 1997 ... 19 ..... 83 ... 79 ... --
    19 ... CLE ... 1999 ... 19 ..... 97 ... 65 ... DS
    20 ... CLE ... 2011 ... 19 ... ??? .. ??? .. ???
    21 ... CLE ... 1996 ... 19 ..... 99 ... 62 ... DS
    22 ... CIN ..... 2006 ... 19 ..... 80 ... 82 ... --
    23 ... CHW .. 2006 ... 19 ..... 90 ... 72 ... --
    24 ... BOS ... 1998 ... 19 ..... 92 ... 70 ... DS
    25 ... BAL .... 1997 ... 19 ..... 98 ... 64 ... LCS
    26 ... ATL .... 1999 ... 19 ... 103 ... 59 ... WS
    27 ... ARI ..... 2008 ... 19 ..... 82 ... 80 ... --

    162-game average: 94.6 Wins, 67.4 Losses

    3 champions, 4 WS losers, 5 LCS losers, 6 DS losers, 7 missed the playoffs.