Baseball Dynasties: Top and Bottom

Baseball DynastiesTop and Bottom Guy Waterman (bio) True Dynasties Versus Long Reigns Baseball dynasties are a subject inadequately explored and imperfectly understood. For one thing, students of the game usually focus on supposed dynasties at the top of the standings—the Yankees of the mid-twentieth century, later the Reds, A's, Orioles—and overlook the far more interesting case of dynasties at the bottom of the league, which this paper will explore in more depth. The latter we'll call Cellar Dynasties; that makes the former Penthouse Dynasties. For another, the concept of dynasty is often confused with long reigns. One dictionary at hand defines dynasty as "a succession of rulers who are members of the same family" (or franchise). The key word is succession . Thus the Big Red Machine winners of 1970-76, impressive though they were in copping five flags in seven years, were not properly a dynasty, in that the core of the team was unchanged for the entire time: Bench, Rose, Perez, Concepcion, and three pitchers for all seven years, with Morgan and Geronimo also present for four of the five pennants. Hardly any succession was involved. It was a reign, a formidable one, but not a true dynasty. Penthouse Dynasties The only clear-cut case of a pennant-hogging dynasty in twentieth-century baseball was, of course, the New York Yankees of 1921-64. They reigned through several generations of nobility at each starting position: the four great center fielders (Witt, Combs, DiMaggio, Mantle) and five to nine fine players at the other dukedoms (see Table 1). Dynastic claims could also be lodged for perhaps the Giants of 1904-24 and the Dodgers of 1947-66. Each dominated for two full decades, McGraw's royalty [End Page 93] winning ten NL flags in twenty-one years, the Brooklyn-Los Angeles migrants taking ten of twenty. During their rule, the Giants stationed at least four different barons at each of the eight everyday baronies. The Dodgers had some longer-reigning peers so went through only three successions at each of four peerages, and only two (blue-chip) catchers (see Tables 2 and 3). Click for larger view View full resolution Table 1. Penthouse Dynasty: New York Yankees, 1921-64 Click for larger view View full resolution Table 2. Penthouse Dynasty: New York Giants, 1904 -24 Click for larger view View full resolution Table 3. Penthouse Dynasty: Brooklyn-Los Angeles, 1947-66 [End Page 94] More recent claimants have not been able to hang at the top so long. The early 1970s saw dominant teams in each of the four newly formed divisions, but each only stayed up for five to seven seasons. In all four cases, they relied on a basic core of outstanding performers at half of their regular positions. Thus: The Orioles of 1969-74 had Blair, Powell, Belanger, and Brooks Robinson all six years plus Palmer, Cuellar, and McNally always in the pitching rotation. The Pirates of 1970 -75 went with Stargell, Sanguillen, Bob Robertson, and Richie Hebner throughout their good years, with Ellis always a starter and Guisti dependably in the bullpen. The Reds of 1970 -76, as mentioned earlier, had Bench, Rose, Concep-cion, and Perez as well as pitchers Nolan, Gullett, and Clay Carroll. The Athletics of 1971-75 were based on Reggie and Rudi in the out field, Campaneris and Bando in the infield, with Vida Blue starting and Rollie Fingers relieving. Even if you stretched the Orioles back to 1966—giving them six first-place ribbons in nine years—you'd still find Blair, Powell, Robinson, Palmer, and McNally always there. Similarly, if you granted the Reds an extension through 1981 (seven flags in twelve years, if you count the peculiar split season of 1981), half of the old Machine was still the core of the team—Bench, Concepcion, Griffey, and Foster. Thus all of these 1970s claimants must really be regarded as single reigns, not true dynasties. Rome wasn't built in a day, nor the Yankees on a single lineup. Since the mid-1970s, the only serious dynastic claim has been filed in Atlanta, beginning in 1991. The Braves have indeed survived turnover at...

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